


The Fine Line

by WolvesandFae



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Broken, Depression, Drama, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mean Nyota, Mpreg, Nice McCoy, Out of Character, Parent-Child Relationship, Rape/Non-con Elements, Single Parent Chekov, Starting Over, Strained Friendships, Twins, Unplanned Pregnancy, friendships, overreacting, slow healing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-22 19:13:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 25,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11973894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolvesandFae/pseuds/WolvesandFae
Summary: After the end of a disastrous relationship, Chekov can’t help noticing that it’s him who always gets screwed over.  When will he catch a break?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Fine Line](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/320418) by whatisthisnonsense-abandoned. 



> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> The first 11-12 chapters were adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message. I have changed this story a lot from the original.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin (This will ease up as the story progresses.

Pavel felt sick. It had only been three weeks since he had arrived back on Earth and already he had an offer to serve aboard another ship. He wasn’t sure if he could do that. He had no intention of letting his career diminish, but the thought of sitting behind a different set of controls, being ordered by anyone other than Spock and Kirk, sitting next to anyone other than Hikaru was, right now, more than he could stand.

The continuous headaches were getting annoying and he had nearly fainted twice since this morning. The nausea was constant, and he supposed that being so depressed recently had lowered his immune system and made him susceptible to a bug going around. Except, infuriatingly, he was often hungry too.

The doctor that entered the room was a woman, a Dr. Edwards. For a moment Pavel felt a little embarrassed as he tried to explain what he thought might be the problem. She smiled at him gently, the first positive gesture he had gotten from anyone in several months, and he tried not to burst into tears.

She must have noticed, but didn’t say anything as she took her seat and looked at the clipboard holding the paper she had been writing on.

“You say you’ve been fired, recently?” she said, maintaining eye contact.

Pavel nodded, not trusting himself if he opened his mouth.

“And you weren’t ready for it, were you?”

He shook his head, biting his lip hard.

“You seem a little overemotional as well. It’s understandable given the circumstances, but how would you say your outward emotions have been? Sad? Hysterical? Or are you usually calm?”

To his horror a loud, chocked, sob-like sound emitted from his throat as he tried to answer her. He clapped a hand over his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut as tears ran over his cheeks and fingers.

The doctor smiled gently at him again. “Now that’s alright, you’re clearly under stress.”

Sniffing and he removed his hand to say, “I-I suppose I hawen’t really zought about my behavior, just how I feel. I-I _hawe_ been a bit hysterical.”

“It doesn’t sound like a bug, more like nerves, but I’m going to have a proper look at you anyway,” she said as she stood. “If you’d just sit yourself up on the bed here and remove your shirt, we’ll be done in no time.”

The young Russian did as he was requested, wondering why he felt so embarrassed. Even when Dr. McCoy had examined him the young man had been unabashed at removing his shirt, and he had had a crush on the older man once. He wondered if he should suck in his stomach and tense his muscles, but then figured that, as his doctor, Edwards really needed to know _exactly_ what was going on with his physique.

Dr. Edwards was facing her desk, and she turned back to him as pulling on an old fashioned stethoscope with one hand and a scanner held in the other.

“Always preferred using these,” she said, tugging on the stethoscope gently. “I don’t feel like a real doctor unless I’m wearing one.”

Pavel smiled and felt himself relax a bit. He sat up a little straighter.

“Hmm, now these look a little sore.” Dr. Edwards gently brushed a thumb against Pasha’s right nipple and then looked up at him. “Or are they usually this color?”

He tilted his head down to look at his chest properly. “Zey…Zey do look a bit pinker.” He felt himself blush harshly, remembering the dull throb he had had in his left pectoral a few days previously.

Gently, she pressed them both with her thumbs. “Sore?” she asked.

“Ze left is, a little bit. It vas aching the ozer day actually.”

The doctor frowned slightly, “Hmm, well let’s get down to business.” Once done she retrieved the scanner from the table next to the bed. “Please lie down, Mr. Chekov.”

Resting his head on the scratchy material of the pillow he allowed the doctor to push his limbs wherever she needed them. As the scanner was waved up and down over his body, he found himself thinking back about five months ago, and the reason he wasn’t on the Enterprise today.


	2. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

 

_\----------Five Months Earlier----------_

 This situation was way over Pasha’s head. This wasn’t the first time he was trapped in an alien prison whilst the powers that be, the Enterprise, and current planet he was on bargained over his and someone else’s life. It _was_ , however, the first time he had been imprisoned with just Commander Spock. The last time he had been in a cell with Spock, Hikaru and Captain Kirk had been with them, which had helped ensure morale more than anything else. In this instance, it was just the young Russian and the Vulcan plotting together, using mathematical genius to break free as soon as possible.

Or at least, they should have been. It was how Pavel always thought they would handle the situation if the two of them ever ended up in like they were now.

Now, Pasha would readily admit that he knew very little about Vulcans. So he was pretty certain that a Vulcan openly and obviously showing anger was a very bad sign. He was sure that what was bothering the Vulcan was what Pavel himself thought to be the biggest problem at the time, which was the unlikelihood that the Captain knew their whereabouts. The commanding officer was, for lack of a better word, scowling. He growled every time footsteps were heard up ahead, and when he wasn’t plastered to the door keeping a look out he was prowling around Pasha in a distracted manner.

“Commander, it’s okay. Ze keptin vill try to contact one of us soon enough and zen he’ll know somezing is vrong,” Pasha said, trying to calm the hybrid.

“It is early,” replied Spock, sounding mildly surprised.

Now that confused the smaller male. Did Spock mean “early” as in the morning? Then he nearly slapped himself and realizing that Spock meant it was still too early for someone to notice they had gone missing. But it had been two days since they were imprisoned.

What happened next was, well, unexpected to say the least.

Spock swooped down on him, grabbing around his chest and lifting him with a terrifying ease. Then the Vulcan was carrying him towards the pile of material in the corner.

“Commander! Vhat-“

“It is early,” Spock repeated, almost fearfully now, “and I cannot fight it. I am sorry, Lieutenant.”

Spock dropped Pasha onto the makeshift bed and then laid on top of him. The small male was taken aback by the sudden weight and strength on top of him. This was scary, what was Spock doing?

Fortunately for Pasha, Spock had enough control over himself to get the two of them through whatever was wrong with him as smoothly as possible. He spent ages smothering Pasha with kisses and nuzzles, reassuring him with a few choice sentences in Russian.

The bonding process had been rather alarming; having another presence suddenly appear within his mind was something that could cause panic. Their bodies, however, experienced a little more difficulty.

Spock had spent a long time preparing and arousing Pasha, but there was still pain nonetheless. Pasha was a lot smaller than Spock and the Vulcan’s strength had taken its toll on his body. It had been alright as Spock had, after what the Russian realized was a mind meld, known exactly what was on his mate’s mind. He devoted as much time as he could to making things pleasurable for his mate. But still, it was overwhelming and not lacking in pain.

When the fever was over, it was Spock’s turn to be overwhelmed by alien sensations within his mind. Pasha’s emotions flitted about constantly and the Vulcan’s attempts to become stoic and emotionless once more failed as his instincts told him his mate was sick. It hadn’t just been the mind either, the size and weight of the human had made Spock incredibly overprotective.

After a while Pasha managed to calm down and he spent some time curiously examining Spock’s presence in his mind. They helped each other to dress, Pasha pretty much collapsing once finished.

When they had been released soon after the ordeal, which Pasha found out lasted almost an entire week, and beamed back to the ship. Once there Doctor McCoy grabbed both of them and took them to sickbay.

“Your father made an emergency call requesting to speak with you,” said McCoy to Spock as he examined Pasha first. “He knows where you were, and he’s on his way. Talked to me about things first though. Apparently this has been occurring all over New Vulcan.”

Spock by this point was back to his practical self, but there was something clipped and cold in his voice, “Of course, the destruction of Vulcan would increase the need to survive.”

McCoy nodded. “It took a while for me to get what was happening out of your father-“

“We do not speak of it,” Spock interrupted smoothly.

Spock never told Pasha where his relationship with Lt. Uhura had been before Spock and Pasha bonded. Things had been very quiet with regards to the whole affair, even after the two had shown affection during the Narada incident. Spock’s mental shields blocked his own thoughts from Pasha’s, as well as the young man’s thoughts and emotions from the Vulcan, so Pasha was never even aware either of them talking to each other. He gently tried to initiate casual conversation with Uhura, as he would have done before the awkward circumstances came about, but she would often just nod while avoiding his eyes before moving away elsewhere.

Spock would occasionally share conversation with him, but not about Uhura and _not_ about Pon Farr, which McCoy had told him about since he needed to know for his own health. For Pasha, he would have happily respected whatever the Vulcan wished, if it hadn’t been for the lack of conversation. He felt as though he had disappointed the Vulcan somehow. He was afraid to simply suggest they get some sort of divorce from the bond without insulting Spock. Yet a divorce sounded right as it was obvious neither of them were happy.

“He is very young and small.” Was the first thing Sarek said when he saw Pasha.

“Lieutenant Chekov is amongst the most advanced members of the crew.”

Pasha would have felt pleased that Spock was, in a way, defending him from his father, but he hadn’t been able to miss the detached way Spock spoke about him. It was as though he wasn’t right in front of them. He had gotten relatively good at picking up the nuances of his Vulcan husband. Within five minutes of conversation Pasha sadly realized that Spock was actually defending himself.

“I would have waited for a Vulcan female given the choice.”

“The bond?”

“Indeed. Emotionally, he is not fully adept.”

Pasha felt a stab of annoyance. He was dealing with the bond itself just fine. Dealing with _how_ it was created was not the same thing, but he kept quiet knowing that his interruption would not be appreciated. He decided to imitate the Vulcans and kept his face completely neutral. If there was one thing he was good at it was learning and adapting.

Sarek then decided to ignore Pasha completely, turning to Spock and began to walking away with him. “He is an inadequate mate for you. He will not be sufficient to help with the survival of the Vulcan race.”

From where he was standing Pasha could still make out Spock’s ears turning slightly green at the tips and though he was quiet, his voice traveled the distance back to the left behind Russian. “Irrelevant, the event was unanticipated. However, his suitability is as you have indicated. I chose under duress, and he will not be presented to New Vulcan. I have contemplated breaking the bond.”

Suddenly Pasha was thankful that Spock had his mental shields up. It hurt more than he would like to admit that not only was Spock making plans for him behind his back, but he was actually ashamed of him.


	3. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

Over the next four months, Spock often visited Pasha’s quarters for sex, which was perhaps the best thing about the whole sorry affair. At first, Pasha was grateful for Spock’s mental shields, but now it hurt to think that the one on the other end of the bond was trying to connect with him as little as possible. Even if that small bit of contact included having a lot of sex. The sex became easier, much to the small Russian’s relief, and on many occasions he tried to engage Spock in conversation afterwards. Usually, Spock left as quickly as possible, but sometimes he would stay and occasionally glance at Pasha with warmth in his dark eyes.

Pasha’s immediate understanding of the situation was that bonds with Vulcans were not easily broken, or it was considered shameful to break. He discovered later that he was the only human male to share a bond with a Vulcan. Before him there were only about three human women bonded to Volcans, one of which being Spock’s mother.

There was no way the young Russian could deny his attraction to the Commander, but he certainly hadn’t imagined anything happening between them, much less marriage. He decided to allow Spock space since the nature of Pon Farr, from what Pasha had seen, was very violent. The man didn’t necessarily want to discuss things with Pasha as a human might have so he had no clue other than the little clues that he had managed to recognize. The mysterious bond would be broken one day and it was probably for the best. The attachment he felt to Spock and the excitement he felt when they were in bed together couldn’t be ignored, but he was sure that this wasn’t love. He was perfectly willing to allow feelings to develop if his husband wanted to make their relationship work, but he reasoned that if Spock had yet to talk about it with him then it wasn’t wise to dwell on things the Vulcan deemed irrelevant.

Just when things were calming down, everything fell to pieces in a spectacular way.

Another Vulcan, a diplomat of some kind, came aboard the Enterprise for two weeks. His presence seemed to be unwelcomed; at least Spock’s body language said that. The Commander clearly knew the other, but was obviously not on friendly terms with him. The diplomat came aboard for safe transportation to New Vulcan from Earth before the Enterprise was needed back on route again.

Pasha hardly saw the new visitor during his brief stay. Although, the tall male Vulcan clearly said some unsavory things about him as Spock became more agitated if the other Vulcan was around his small mate. Upon being introduced, the diplomat said something in Vulcan that caused Lt. Uhura to stiffen and anger to flare up from Spock’s side of the bond so powerfully it reached his mate through the shields. From that moment on Spock became more aggressive during sex, less talkative, more irritable, and expressly ordered Pasha not to approach the other Vulcan under any circumstances. Not knowing what had been said about him, but feeling uneasy with the sudden change in his bondmate’s behavior, the eighteen year old did as he was told hoping it would ease the Commander’s ire.

Then the Vulcan diplomat left and that should have been the end of it.

Pasha could feel bruises forming on his arms where Spock grasped him and hissed in his ear, “What have you done?”

“V-vhat?”

“The bond, what have you done, you little deceiver?”

Pasha let out a little cry and dug his nails into Spock’s arms trying to get the Vulcan to loosen his grip, “Vhat are you talking about? I hawen’t done anyzing!”

“Do not lie! The presence of another contaminates the bond!” Spock paused and then snarled at him, “How many times did he have you before his presence manifested?”

“Vhat? Vho? I hawen’t-“

Then Spock started to shake him, clearly restraining himself from doing more. “The Vulcan diplomat, the one you betrayed me with!”

“S-Spock! I hawen’t done anyzing! I hawen’t!” Pasha cried; tears made from fear rolling down his cheeks.

“I should have known you would seek other company! You were never going to be an acceptable mate for any Vulcan! A tainted bond is unacceptable!”

Painful was a word too physical to describe the feeling of a bond being broken. Spock had refused to properly meld and disconnect the bond gently; he didn’t want to see any marks that would show the presence of another in his former-mate’s mind. It didn’t hurt, but Pasha wasn’t ready for what came next. A dreadfully empty, lonely feeling consumed his now bondless mind. Pasha had collapsed to the floor, sobbing. And no one picked him up again.

Pasha had been sick after the first person said, “I think you should leave.” That person was Uhura.

Fortunately when she said it there was a bathroom within running distance. It could easily be attributed to the fact that he himself had been thinking about leaving, but to hear that Spock wasn’t the only one that wanted it was unbearable.

The tension began to rise and became dreadful. Kirk looked at him with intense disappointment all the time, Uhura snapped at him constantly, and Spock seemed to pretend he didn’t even exist. Scotty didn’t understand the extent of the damage, and just clapped his hand on Pasha’s back telling him everything would blow over soon. Hikaru hadn’t said anything, except, “I told you it wouldn’t work.” That had hurt so much more than he thought it would have; hadn’t Hikaru been his friend?

Pasha spent his shifts trying desperately to show how professional he was. He didn’t try discussing his private life since he would have been instantly reprimanded. He could feel the stares all the time and constantly straightened himself up, sucking in his stomach that was definitely getting a little noticeable as if he was gaining weight. He had always had a flat stomach so of course he noticed the change rather quickly.

Uhura addressed his weight two weeks before he was sent away. “Just look at you.” She gestured to his stomach, which, to be fair was actually the only part of him to have expanded. “You need to go home and sort yourself out. Do you know what that is? That’s from guilt-eating and stress, Lieutenant.” She had stopped using his name weeks earlier.

Kirk had taken him aside to fire him. Well, the Captain obviously thought he was gently “encouraging” Pasha to leave. “I really think it’s for the best,” he sighed. “It’s not that you’re a bad worker, but now your performance on the bridge has started to get worse. You’re stressed, shaking, and with the current state of your relationships on board, I think this would be best for you. You’re clearly unhappy.”

“I am unhappy because I vas accused of somezing I didn’t do, Keptin,” Pasha said weakly. He tried to get the next reason for his misery out, “An-and Spock-“

“Now Chekov, I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm. But what’s done is done. I won’t force you to go, but I think it’s the right thing for you. You’re still young, and when—if you join another ship, I know it won’t be long before you’re promoted.”

Now, Pasha probably would have left whether Kirk had spoken to him or not. The tension onboard was getting worse and without the protection of his once friends, some of the other crew members started ridiculing him just like they had back at the Academy. The security team would mock his accent and ignore his questions and orders. One of them even started pinching him on the backside and wolf whistling at him, asking when he was going to be eighteen; the big joke being that Pasha was already of age.

All of his friends, or perhaps former friends, who weren’t outright angry with him started to treat Pasha with a constant air of resignation and irritation. The only safe place he could find outside of his quarters was the medbay, because no one wanted to face Dr. McCoy if they didn’t have to.

A smaller ship came along a week later and took him back to Earth. Gazing numbly out a small window into deep space, a blank screened and silent PADD in hand, Pasha knew it would stay that way for there would be no messages for him.

Back on Earth he got a message. From New Vulcan. A wizened member of the Council whom Pasha vaguely recognized informed him that because of the shameful nature of his broken bond, neither he nor any of his family members would ever be welcome to New Vulcan. Pasha initially wondered how a Vulcan in his position would be treated. Then he found out why it was so bad for him. Turns out Spock had gotten a lawyer to order that Pasha be kept away from him at all times. Best way to do this was apparently keeping him off the Enterprise and New Vulcan.

His remaining family had no interest in seeing him. He was banished from New Vulcan and the Enterprise, with no friends to speak of. His ex-husband apparently just issued the Vulcan equivalent of a restraining order against him.

For the first time in years he had no idea what his future was going to be like. He was lost and very, very scared.


	4. Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

_\----------Present Time------------_

Pasha was almost beside himself with emotional pain. He thought about all he had lost in so little time and came to the realization that his grief was more from what had been revealed during the entire ordeal. His co-workers had never seen him as a real friend or colleague; he was just a little boy that was good at mathematics. None of them had ever taken him seriously.

Spock had never liked the small Russian, nor had he ever really been attracted to him. Pasha had been the only one around during Pon Farr and once the bond was formed it was only logical to indulge. Kirk, Sulu, and Uhura probably had nothing but disdain for him now, but Spock hated him something fierce. He had felt it just before their bond disappeared and left him with this empty gap in his soul that he could still feel now.

As Pasha lay on the biobed, the scanner moving back and forth over him, he thought about how very stupid the whole situation was. At some point, Spock would have contact with that other Vulcan and surely he would ask about the interference with his ex-bondmate. Maybe when the Vulcan learned the truth he would retract all of his accusations and allow Pasha his freedom and dignity once more. The former Enterprise crewmember wasn't sure if he would ever be able to work for Starfleet again. There would always be another ship waiting for him somewhere, but all of the ones he had any interest in working on were due to land on New Vulcan at some point, the very planet he wasn’t allowed to go near. That would make finding work interesting since no ships would want a navigator who wasn't welcome to that planet.

Pasha heard a tisk from the foot of the bed. His gaze and mind traveled back to the doctor just in time to see her reprogramming the scanner and sweeping it over him once more, specifically his middle.

"Vhat is it, Doctor? Am I wery sick?"

Dr. Edwards shook her head as she reread the results. She glanced back at him, "You don't have an illness, Mr. Chekov. But I need to know, have you engaged in sexual relations with an individual from a nonhuman race within the last few months?"

Pasha's eyes widened. "Yes, viz a Wulcan." What else had that bastard done to him?

Edwards expression was blank. "Male?"

"Da."

She closed her eyes before saying, "I don’t know much about Vulcan physiology and mating rituals since they like to keep things quiet, so we're going to need to consult with someone who does."

"But vhat is vrong viz me, Doctor?" queried Pasha again, as the woman turned away from him to type something on the medical issued PADD she had entered with.

After a few seconds of silence, she finished typing and turned to look him in the eye. "I've never seen this between a male Vulcan and a male human before, but there's no denying what the scanner is telling me. Mr. Chekov, you're about three months pregnant."

"Vhat?" Pasha asked, frowning. He was certain his English was failing him; she couldn't possibly have said what he thought she did.

"You’re pregnant. Now lie back against the pillows and we'll try and get to the bottom of this. Try to keep as calm as possible, I know this is a shock to you."

"I'm hawing a baby?" He waited, but she didn't respond. "Doctor, I am a man."

She smiled grimly at him, "That you are and you're with child."

The trained navigator’s heart began to race. This was ridiculous; impossible; the whole thing was just a prank surely. "But... I am... It must be an error."

"I've scanned you with two different scanners on three different settings, Pavel," she used his first name a little tentatively, "obviously I'll run more tests, but I'm very certain this isn’t an error."

Pasha shook his head, unable to respond and unwilling to believe.

"You're not the first male human to be impregnated by a nonhuman race, but I confess I had no idea the Vulcan's could reproduce like this," Dr. Edwards said, rather stonily.

Another doctor and a nurse came in. Dr. Jackson was evidently half-human, but Pasha was too shocked at the latest development in his life to figure out the non-human side of her heritage. She was blue-skinned and that was all he could register as she introduced herself. He barely registered the nurse bustling around for the two doctors.

They spent another hour scanning the stunned male; asking him questions and taking a few blood samples. Once they were done he was taken to a large meeting room where they sat him down with a glass of water.

"Mr. Chekov," said Dr. Edwards, as Dr. Jackson sat down opposite him, "your pregnancy is... quite extraordinary news. We cannot be absolutely certain as to how it's happened, as Vulcan's are an intensely private race, particularly regarding mating, reproduction, and sexuality. You are in shock, we know, but we will need to discuss your options at a later date."

Pasha gazed at her, dumbly.

Dr. Jackson offered him a small smile. "We want you to return home and rest, Mr. Chekov. Although you'll need time to make a decision, please refrain from ingesting any stimulants, so no caffeine or alcohol. We're going to schedule you another meeting here in two days. Hopefully we will have more answers, and we'd like you to bring in your PADD, please. This situation is definitely going to reach legal matters... quite a few, I should think."

With a nod the shell shocked young man left the hospital and trudged home, thoughts of all the positives and negatives of being pregnant with Spock’s child swirling around in his head. Once he reached his apartment he locked himself inside the bedroom and lay there staring at the ceiling that was blurred from new tears.


	5. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> The first 12 chapters were adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message. I have changed this story a lot from the original.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin (This will ease up as the story progresses

* * *

For two days Pasha didn't leave his apartment, but he wasn’t relaxing either. On one hand, his mind was telling him over and over again that he had gone crazy and that any minute now someone would take him away in a straight jacket. And on the other hand, fuelled by reminders for his meeting ringing on his PADD every few minutes, he felt like laughing hysterically at how typical it all seemed; that this just had to happen to him.

He was still living in his Starfleet Earth-base quarters which consisted of a simple single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a small bathroom meant for one person only. All of his posters and clothes were where he left them when he boarded the Enterprise, but now they look oddly childish to him. He stuck to the orders from the doctors; no caffeine or alcohol, although he severely doubted he would be able to keep either down.

When Pasha returned to the hospital, twelve other people aside from the two doctors he met before were in the conference room. Some were doctors, others psychologists, two were lawyers, and finally a couple of scientists. Pasha was asked to recount his relationship with Commander Spock, including the Pon Farr situation and the 'break up'. The legality of Spock's restraining order was all there on his PADD, which the lawyers spent most of the meeting examining, checking that it matched with their own research.

Dr. Jackson stepped up and began to explain how the fetus had been conceived, Pasha only catching small pieces of information throughout the entire confusing conversation.

"...We managed to get these files from the records of two human women who have birthed Vulcan hybrids... We've discovered that Vulcan semen contains a hormone that manages to enter the bloodstream after sex... You were engaging in sexual intercourse often, so the hormones were entering your body regularly for a good two months, until eventually a kind of temporary womb formed, and the fetus was conceived..."

Along with this there were two huge holographic diagrams to help explain where Pasha's DNA came into play. He was smart enough to understand that, he was the youngest graduate from Starfleet after all, but all his questions weren’t answered. Biology had never been his favorite scientific area.

"...The sudden lack of hormones in the past few weeks has probably contributed to your nausea," said Dr. Jackson, still very kind over her businesslike tone, "…Were you a Vulcan male, around the time of the birth a patch of skin around your belly would become very soft, and it would be easy to perform a caesarean without much risk. I can't say if the same thing would happen for you, but that would be one of the primary functions of the hormone post-conception."

Pasha shook his head, speaking for the first time in a while, "But vhat is ze point of it? If Wulcan's, like human's, hawe males and females I don't understand vhere on ze ewolutionary scale zis could possibly hawe been needed."

An older man with a thin beard spoke up, "The problem is, you are thinking of 'male and female' in human terms. It's true that Vulcan sex is similar enough to human sex, but the best way to explain this is to assume that Vulcan males can technically be considered hermaphrodites. It may be that this impregnating ability evolved properly after Pon Farr became the primary mating time. Vulcan's, as you know, can mate outside of Pon Farr, but many choose not to believing sex to be an abandonment of their logical beliefs. In fact, many Vulcan's strive to maintain the belief that they feel nothing at all."

Pasha nodded as the man sipped his water before continuing, "So obviously, the need to survive would have increased tenfold with Vulcan infants being born at once every seven years, and of course, with Pon Farr, there's no guarantee conception will take place. However, this development must be older than that if the hormone is strong enough to function the same way in a human bloodstream."

Pasha rubbed his aching temple, "So…I zink I understand zis nov, but vhat am I supposed to do? Is the fetus ewen going to surwiwe?"

"At the moment, it looks as though it will," said the man. "We're not going to lie to you; it's going to be a very trying ordeal."

"That is, of course, if you actually  _want_  to go through with it, Mr. Chekov," Dr. Edwards cut in, frowning slightly at the man who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "If you were to go ahead with it, we would supply you with the hormone via pills, or injections if you couldn't keep them down. The whole process would be similar to that of a human female taking prenatal care to ensure the best survival rate for her unborn child.”

"So... I don't hawe to keep it if I don't vant to?" Pasha said slowly.

Dr. Jackson smiled sadly at him, "Absolutely not. This is  _your_  body, Mr. Chekov, and you have rights here. Usually, the Vulcan High Council would be making decisions as to your position and would probably persuade you to marry the other father, another Vulcan, or give the child up and it would be raised there."

Pasha's eyes widened. "You mean ze Wolcan Council has no say in zis? In vat I do?"

One of the lawyers, Mr. West, spoke up, "Correct, Mr. Chekov. That restraining order your ex-husband took out against you? It means that any and all of your messages, lawsuits, even SOS's get sent to the very end of the long line of information sent to them from Earth. As such, they can't limit your movements here. You don’t have to wait for them to process your messages. If the child was carried to term, it  _would_  be your immediate family and neither you nor any member of your immediate family is allowed on New Vulcan. There's no legal bond binding you to the other father. To sum it all up, Commander Spock has thrown away all legal rights over you or the potential half-Vulcan. At least off of New Vulcan."

"Quarter," Pasha, Dr. Edwards, and Dr. Jackson said at once, smiling weakly at each other.

"So," Pasha began, keeping his voice slow so he could sound a little more clear with his imperfect English, "alzough ze message may not reach them for a while, or ever, hawe the Wolcan Council been informed of my situation?"

The room was silent, save for an awkward cough from the other lawyer.

"Not yet," Mr. West finally said. "Not until the decision is made on whether you're going to attempt to carry the child to term."


	6. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> The first 12 chapters were adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message. I have changed this story a lot from the original.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin (This will ease up as the story progresses

* * *

Exhaling wearily, Pasha glanced around for the first time since he entering the room, making eye contact with each person.

"If you choose to go through with the pregnancy, Mr. Chekov," said Mr. West after a few moments of silence, "you would be given monetary assistance. And everything would be confidential; you are well within your rights to ensure that the medical records for the research and any published findings would have you down as an anonymous patient. If you choose not to go through with it, you have the same rights to your privacy and your anonymous coverage would remain."

After a little while Pasha cleared his throat, "I suppose zis, vell, zis is something important to science?"

A different scientists from the earlier one spoke up, "Yes, very much so. When the Vulcan's finally find out about you, they may be interested too as, of course, their population is down."

Pasha sighed, obviously if he could assist New Vulcan in any way he usually would have been very willing to do so. Yet the unpleasant thought of his child being forced to marry into Vulcan society was almost too much to bear. Although, it was worth wondering whether the Vulcan's would even want anything to do with him or his child. Especially since the “scandal” and the fact that the baby would be quarter-Vulcan.

He frowned, "Alzough Nev Wulcan might not hear about me for a while, do you zink Spock could find any vay of filing a law suit against me if I do not attempt to contact him about zis?"

"It's highly doubtful that he could," said Mr. West. "You were on Earth when you discovered the pregnancy, and that was  _after_  he got the restraining order. To play it safe I advise you don’t go anonymous within the actual medical files that would be kept with the hospital records. The files will have to be sent to New Vulcan, but as previously stated it is Commander Spock's fault if they take a while to be processed. This may also be the case if you contact the Enterprise. That contact would also have to be an emergency otherwise you would be directly violating your restraining order. If at any point Commander Spock discovers the pregnancy and claims you were withholding important information, this meeting has been documented as evidence that you had not have known the possibility of conception with him. That is another of his errors for judging you wrongly."

Pasha frowned, "Vhat do you mean?"

Dr. Jackson spoke up, "The Vulcan bond, Mr. Chekov. The presence of the fetus’ was the 'contamination' Commander Spock thought was in the bond. The presence is unusually strong for the early stage of pregnancy, but that's probably because of the mixed heritage."

Pasha closed his eyes and chuckled slightly. All of this had happened because of a fetus that had been created within him. A fetus that Spock may have accepted and thus accepted its “mother.” Shaking his head the pregnant young man corrected himself. No, Spock never liked him and he probably wouldn’t like the idea of a child even less Vulcan than himself.

"Perhaps you should try to notify Commander Spock," said one of the psychologists. "After all, it was only in his nature to question your loyalty—“

"Of course it is not his fault for doubting my _loyalty_ ," snapped Pasha causing the man to reel back in shook while Dr. Edwards glared at him. "But I had ze right to defend myself and he should hawe listened. I had ze right to demand a proper inwestigation and now it is too late. If he vants to know about ze child, he vill hawe to come to me. It is not my problem."

"You could get money out of him if you wanted," Mr. West quietly suggested.

"I zink I already hawe enough belonging to him," said Pasha, coolly.

He turned to the two doctors that had diagnosed him. "Please be honest vith me. How dangerous is zis going to be?"

Dr. Jackson nodded in a grim manner. "It could eventually be life-threatening. However, you will be first priority when the time for birth comes."

Pasha gulped and leaned back in his seat. He knew that he had to be practical about the whole thing. He was male and therefore obviously not built for pregnancy. It would be painful and it could end in disaster. Yet there was the chance that everything could turn out fine. The glorious, beautiful, wild possibility of having a child of his own came into his mind. A child that he could cuddle, kiss, and tell stories to day and night. A little bundle of joy that he would give the best of everything to, at least from what he could give. A child that would love him in return as much as he loved them, and they could became a little family. Pasha shook himself from those dangerous thoughts. He had vowed to not think of the unborn baby as an actual child. If there was a chance it didn't make it, he didn't want any more heartbreak in his already miserable life.

On the other hand, he had no close relatives, well, not ones he spoke to anyway. If he and the baby didn't make it, no one around them would get hurt. Then he wondered, if it would be selfish to keep the baby if there was a chance just  _he_  would die? To leave a child, much less one that was only quarter-Vulcan, alone in the world with no family to care for it? His whole theory of having no one close being affected by his death was all well and good, but it would be blown out of the water if the baby survived and he didn't.

Spock had treated him terribly, but Pasha knew he would do the right thing for the child. He knew from his own experiences where the child would be happiest and safest, if the both of them survived, but Pasha just couldn't foresee such an event yet.

There was no right or wrong answer here. Whatever decision he made, it would be both selfish and selfless. The only way to try and ensure the best possible outcome was to be sensible about the options available then come to his decision. If there was a sudden and immediate danger to his life, the pregnancy would be terminated just as it would be for a woman. He was going to have to pay attention to every single one of his doctor's instructions.

He felt a pang in his chest as he automatically thought of Dr. McCoy, somewhere out there in space, with permanent scowl on his face while examining some terrified patient. Pasha missed the Enterprise so very much. Even if the entire crew had been ignorant bastards, their intentions hadn't been cruel. They really didn't know all of the facts of the situation, that and Pasha would always be some stupid kid to them.

There was probably never going to be any forgiving or forgetting, because the Russian could now see that there had never really been any true friendship between them at all. Perhaps if he had been able to stay longer, with none of this having happened of course, he could have formed a close emotional bond with one or more of them, like the one Kirk and Spock shared. Oh, how Pasha longed for a friendship like that of the one those two men shared.

Now that he knew how everyone saw him, he understood everyone's initial reactions to the bonding, or at least he supposed he did. However, he had the right to defend himself. Everyone's behavior towards him was uncalled for; all of the disappointed stares, reprimanding tones, and the cold voice from Uhura as though he were the trouble student in a school where everyone had given up on him. Sometimes he found himself wondering whether his former friends actually knew what had happened, or at least what Spock thought had happened.

_“You little deceiver.”_

Pasha closed his eyes.

There was a rather uncomfortable suspicion that he occasionally had, but it was much too farfetched in terms of logic and Spock's morality. Sometimes, Pasha couldn't help pondering the possibility that perhaps Spock had set him up. Perhaps there had been no such “contamination of the bond,” or a change to it that Spock could see. That for whatever reason, breaking the bond over an apparent affair would be easier for the Vulcan. Would Spock really have sensed a difference? It had been so early in the pregnancy, after all. Pasha honestly couldn't remember how he had felt that day. All of his awareness of that week had been poured into the terrible, dark void left where Spock's presence had once been.

It sounded ridiculous, even in his mind. His own guilt of failing to save Spock's mother still lingered though. The Vulcan had never mentioned the incident, and Pasha had often found the apology stuck in his throat when he had tried to voice it. Spock didn’t seem the type to hold a grudge, but if he had been doing so it would explain the secrecy he had maintained throughout their bond and why it had been so easy for him to pull a stunt like the one Pasha sometimes privately suspected.

The irritating psychologist spoke up again, "Obviously you may feel pressured by the encouragement to be honorable with your decision, but we will be there to advise you, should you need it."

He smiled, "I don't zink I vould like to be an honorable person right now. Not to him, anyvay. I vill go zrough vith zis pregnancy." The room filled sighs of either relief or worry. "It may ansver many questions and vill keep me interested vhile I am unemployed." He smiled sourly as he stood.

Several of the doctors and scientist stood too and began moving around to shake hands with him.

A young man in a white coat smiled at him warmly, his arm extended; "Well then, Mr. Chekov, we'll be working very closely with you. May I call you by your first name?"

Pasha hesitated. It was rather strange to have people treating him like an adult, even beneath the usual patronizing tones most doctors had.

“Da.” What was one more risk compared to the nine month, life-threatening ordeal he had just signed up for.


	7. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> The first 12 chapters were adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message. I have changed this story a lot from the original.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin (This will ease up as the story progresses.

* * *

After deciding to keep the child, Pavel edited his will a few weeks after the meeting. The original documents had been mandatory for members of Starfleet, it was an extremely dangerous occupation after all. It had taken a lot of thought, but he finally came up with something that he believed offered the best out of a worst case scenario. The will didn’t have to be changed right away, but it was still extremely difficult to sit and think about the future for ages where he could talk himself out of his decision. Never before had he gone back on a choice and he wasn’t about to start now. Trying to be methodical, he kept in mind that he was deciding the fate of another person who would be shaped by their upbringing just as his had shaped him.

Now the young man’s will stated that in the event of his death, should the child survive, they would inherit all of his saved money at the age of eighteen. Should the child be healthy upon birth and have no complications during the pregnancy, birth, or immediate life after birth, either mental or physical, they would be adopted by a willing family that lived on Earth. If it seemed that the child would struggle medically because of its mixed heritage, then Starfleet doctors would need to care for them regardless of their adoption status. However, if Spock showed an interest in his child, none of these events would be necessary. Pavel had decided that no matter the physical, mental, and or emotional state of the child, Spock should be contacted in the event on his death. The half Vulcan may have been horrible to him, but he  _was_  the child's other parent and had a right to a chance at raising it if Pavel himself couldn’t do it. The message would be sent as high priority to the Commander who would not and could not ignore it since there was no way Pavel could have sent it if it was about his death. It would most likely be the lawyer he was now on good terms with, Mr. West, who would send the message and enact his will for him.

If both Pavel and the child perished some of the money would go to his mother, if she wanted it, and the rest of it would be split between Starfleet and the charities he donated to. If that happened Spock would not be contacted, but several of Pavel's doctors would talk to the Vulcan High Council about the risk of human male pregnancy by a Vulcan sire and their rights. Pavel would be their evidence even though he would be listed as an anonymous patient, but the Vulcan’s would probably figure it out on their own. Granted, the doctors would be doing that part no matter if he lived or not, it would just be a better argument if he died which would show the dangers, but he guessed they could stress the risks of what could have happened if he survived. Since the Counsel never shared anything information they were all going into the pregnancy blind.

Then there was the most complicated possibility of Pavel  _and_  the child surviving.

Children couldn't be brought up in space, not for the long term anyway. It was dangerous, isolating, and impractical for everyone involved. If they both survived the pregnancy and birth, he didn't want to leave the child behind on Earth, and he if he was honest with himself he couldn’t do that even if he tried. Even if Pavel had a willing volunteer to raise the child planet-side, the baby's needs would probably be too great. A little voice in the back of his head said that it was his child and he should raise it himself. Sometimes Pasha felt frustrated by the fact that he was stranded in society, but other times he was fascinated and couldn’t deny it. Exploring parenthood, especially with a hybrid child, was not going to be dull even as his body steadily experienced more of the unpleasant side effects brought on by pregnancy.

* * *

The morning sickness didn’t go away like it did for a normal pregnancy, and soon Pavel found himself weak from weight loss, iron deficiency, and almost constant migraines that nearly crippled him to the point of staying bedridden. The doctors turned out to be a big help, even though their incessant hovering felt stifling. He knew, however, that they had all kinds of ideas for making the pregnancy easier for him and therefore wasn’t quick to shoo them away. He moved into the Starfleet hospital with his own private room and was monitored day and night. Genitalia aside, there was a lot of concern about how fragile he was and soon the constant scans and tests were able to tell them something useful.

There were two fetuses.

"Twins," said Dr. Edwards, "are very uncommon in Vulcan pregnancies. It explains why the bond with the ‘child’ was so strong and perhaps why Spock reacted so badly. It probably didn't occur to him that you may be pregnant with twins since it’s so rare. According to his logic, that strong of a bond had to mean tampering from another Vulcan."

There was absolutely no way that Pavel could be sympathetic to what Spock's possible point of view had been. They spent the rest of the meeting discussing whether he would be able to carry the twins to term safely. One child was something to be cautious about, but having twins of mixed heritage brought a higher chance of complications.

"You've done well so far," Dr. Edwards said. "There’s no reason to assume the worst."

"Or ze best," sighed Pavel. In reality, he was more surprised that he wasn't shocked at the new revelation, but reason said that he was pretty much ready for anything no matter how bizarre it turned out to be.

* * *

As the time progressed with all signs pointing to a successful pregnancy, Pavel made further plans for what would happen afterward the birth. Trying to find some kind of work with patient enough people to understand that he might not be there in a few months because he would be recovering from giving birth was difficult. On top of that, if he was to work after the birth he would most likely have two children in tow. Now that he accepted that fact that he had life growing inside of him he wished to keep them if everything went well. After everything he had gone through and everything he will go through with the children, he thought that it would be better to not shoot for a high profile job so that he could both support his little family and still take care of his children. What he wished for right now was to be as far away from a Starfleet occupation as possible. No matter where he went there would always be a Starfleet base somewhere, but he now longed to escape the symbol that was etched everywhere he turned. Or perhaps he wished to escape the possibility of running into certain people from the past; though the expecting man tried to deny that he was thinking as such occasionally.

Running into the past would be the next big problem. Pavel had no idea if they would ever find out about him or what would happen if they did. They had been quick to blame him for the incident aboard the Enterprise so hopefully they would leave him be. There were more nights then he would have liked where he cried himself to sleep remembering their harsh words and imagining even more if they discovered the pregnancy. Perhaps they wouldn’t bother to find out whether the babies were Spock's. After all, they weren't going to know of the conception; or that it had required at least two months of sex between the Commander and Pavel.

Some days the young man got angry and became more determined to right the wrongs in his life. Direct revenge like publically revealing his treatment at his previous post was tempting, but he told himself repeatedly that he did not care enough and it was a waste of time on them. Then he would quickly become sad and withdrawn again because he had cared for them from the moment he was assigned to the same ship as them. Even Spock, who often preferred to be seen as cold and emotionless; the one who abandoned him. Sometimes, very rarely, Pavel missed him.

When the pregnancy entered the third trimester Pavel had to use a wheelchair. By that point he was still rather weak from the constant morning sickness and headaches and his swollen stomach completely unbalanced him. After what felt like forever he found a job that was everything he had been looking for. It wasn’t on Earth even though there would be the occasional dealings with Starfleet for designing ships and power sources. It was good money though and it was a diverse place where children of all kinds would feel welcome. Pavel felt strong for the first time in a while as he confirmed his position. No one called him “Pasha” anymore, that was a child's name. He was Pavel, because that name said he was a man.


	8. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

To say it was a shock to receive a call on the, until now, silent Starfleet PADD was an understatement. The buzz of Pavel's new PADD was almost always caused by his doctors calling to see how he was or update him on his health. The tone that rang out from his old PADD hadn't been heard in a good seven months. Gawping at the contraption as it buzzed and beeped on the desk he stared at Hikaru Sulu's name flashing on the screen for several moments before it faded and the device went silent again. A few moments later, it warbled with the announcement of a message, a text one at that. Wheeling himself over and he took it in shaky hands.

_Chekov,_

_I don't know if you still use this PADD, it rang so I guess you must be using it. I'm sorry I haven't contacted you before now. Just wanted to know if you're OK these days. Call me back?_

_Sulu_

It was short and simple. The man had tried to call first so Chekov couldn’t blame him or be mad since he hadn’t picked up. Pavel wasn't sure what to make of this. It was strange seeing his last name on the screen, almost as strange as seeing Sulu's. He supposed that they should refer to each other by last names now that they were no longer friends. It just seemed odd that now they really did belong to different worlds. Sulu was a pilot of the Enterprise, out there in the stars somewhere. Chekov, was a hopeful soon-to-be parent and planet-side until leaving for his new life. It had been so long since hearing from any of the ones that betrayed him.

_I'm sorry I haven't contacted you before now._

There was no reason given for Sulu not calling before now. Although, he supposed it went both ways. It wasn't as if Pavel himself had tried to call him.

_Just wanted to know if you're OK these days._

So Sulu felt the gap between their different lives too. Yet he hadn’t called before now. He wasn't worried, simply curious and maybe a bit guilty after suddenly remembering his ex-crewmate one day. Most likely calling out of boredom; perhaps the Enterprise hadn’t seen any adventure for a while. There was no news given of how Sulu or anyone else was. Maybe Pavel shouldn't answer.

He had gotten a new PADD, deciding that he should have something that was truly his. He hadn’t gotten rid of the old one given to him by Starfleet though. He hadn’t thought about it until now as everything going on over the last few months had distracted him. The new PADD was plain, with no Starfleet logo etched into it, and he had transferred all of the important files to it and put them into areas that were out of sight if someone tried to gain access to the device.

_Call me back?_

No, he wouldn’t call back. He could imagine how that conversation would go. Pavel would hold the thing on his swollen belly in a way so Sulu couldn't see it or even guess he was with child. The pilot would ask Pavel how he was and then say that he honestly looked terrible. Was he in a hospital? Where was he? Pavel would just lie and lie so the man could see the old Chekov that he used to know and Pavel himself could relax knowing he wouldn’t drag the entire Enterprise crew to see him.

"No, no, I'm fine, Sulu. I hawe had a cold. I hawe just mowed to nev lodgings. I am still vorking for Starfleet. I might be vorking on a nev ship soon."

Then Sulu would ask, "What ship? Where? I'll look out for it."

He wouldn't look, but he would say it all the same. Just to be kind even though he would be too busy to check for a new ship until they were planet side again or if they crossed paths with the ship. That would lead to all kinds of awkward questions when it was discovered that Pavel wasn't on board.

Deleting the message, he wheeled himself to his table where his food tray was and placed the PADD next to the empty dishes. He would tell whoever came to pick up the stuff to return the device to Starfleet as he no longer needed their “kind offer” of “letting” him “keep” it. He didn’t want to hear from his past and with the old PADD gone he would likely get his wish.

* * *

The due date was drawing closer, and even though the future was still very uncertain, Pavel could only feel relief. He was tired of the back pain, headaches, nausea, uncontrollable hormones, the wheelchair, the hospital, and being tired all the time. The worry of what might happen was overridden with the feeling of wanting it all to be done and over with. If Pavel died, he wouldn’t have to deal with anymore pain. His mother would be unhappy, but not devastated since they had never been close. He didn’t know whether it was her own refusal to bond with her first child or simply her inability to do so because of some kind of depression. It just didn't matter to him anymore. He didn’t feel sad when he thought of her in general, but he did when thinking of their shared past so he didn’t think of it often. Spock wouldn’t feel too bad, because the Vulcan's logical ways would most likely persuade him that he hadn't intentionally impregnated Pavel and the small male had chosen not to ask for help therefore it wasn’t his problem. The fact that he wouldn’t have to worry about running into the blonde out in space would probably lift a weight off of his shoulders that the Vulcan would refute ever being there in the first place. As for the others they would probably, hopefully, never know except for one.

Sometimes Pavel laughed to himself as he thought of some not so nice things, which he was allowed to do since the children could very well end of his life. He laughed at what a bunch of idiots the crew was made up of. Spock, the hypocrite who claimed to be emotionless, but as soon as he experiences emotions he goes out of his way to destroy the cause. Uhura; so possessive of Spock that she didn't even realize those actions had turned her into a hateful person. Kirk; so obviously in love with Spock that he was depressed without the Vulcan and positively submissive around him. Sulu and Scotty were too afraid of protocol to question their superiors, but still able to believe cruel rumors. Then there was McCoy; so busy, so patronizing, yet unable to stand up for what he believed in when Kirk or Spock contradicted his opinion to his face.

If there was one person from the Enterprise that the pregnant man wouldn’t mind seeing again it would be McCoy. Though they had never been on the best terms, what with him always getting hurt somehow and McCoy being his usual crabby self, they had a decent acquaintanceship between the two of them. Out of everyone, McCoy hadn’t blamed him. Oh, the older man hadn’t defended him, at least from what Pavel knew, but he had never said that everything was Pavel’s fault. If fact the doctor had pulled him aside just days before leaving the Enterprise.

“You didn’t do anything, Chekov. Don’t believe a word they say, you hear me? I’m going to fight this for you, you just lay low and recover from what that hobgoblin has put you through. You ever need me I’m just a call away,” the southern man had told him, holding onto his shoulders in a comforting manner.

That was why McCoy’s information was on his new PADD. That was why he kept the man updated on what had been happening to him. He knew that the doctor would keep his mouth shut unless something forced his hand. It had been McCoy that kept him from committing suicide before he learned about the pregnancy, McCoy who helped him list the pros and cons of the pregnancy, McCoy who updated him on all of the stupid behavior of the crew members landing up in medbay, minus their names of course, every time he called. McCoy was his rock and he wasn’t going to lose that. He may even be one of the few friends Pavel may have left in the entire universe. Even if He was a cranky old man that lets himself be pushed around.

* * *

A month later he was still waiting to die.

He slid in and out of consciousness continuously. The first time it was to the sound of violent beeps and the cries of infants. The second time was to a low hum and the clink of metal on glass. He was certain that the other times were only within a few seconds of each other, as a distant conversation remained constant in timbre and location; somewhere to Pavel's left, possibly just outside the open door.

His body was numb and cold, but he didn't shiver. Then the darkness came, making him feel nothing.

The next time he awoke Dr. Edwards was standing by his bedside smiling down at him. She lifted a hand, which he recognized as his own, to her mouth and kissed it.

"You did it, Pavel," she said, softly, "You did it."


	9. Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

It took a few weeks for Pavel to build up his strength after the birth. Although the babies had obviously been delivered via caesarean, the anesthetic had knocked him out during the procedure because of his weakened state. As soon as he was able to leave his bed unassisted he started a workout that would help him recover faster, much to the annoyance of his medical team. Gradually he worked sit ups into his daily regime to try and redevelop his abs, which currently felt like they were all over the place. The fact that his hormones were somewhat under control again brought an overwhelming relief that made him feel much more confident that he would be able to have a relatively normal future. During his time stuck in bed the new mother, or birth father, began to meticulously plan for his family's move to Victoria Six where his new job was located. Already a positive feeling about the position was taking hold since he was receiving messages of congratulations on the children’s successful births and several others expressing concern for all of them from his future coworkers.

The children were doing well according to the doctors. His little boy was named Vitaliy, and his baby girl was Lyusya. Initially, he had been worried when the two babies were first placed in his arms. Pavel had prepared for the worst, to feel degust or something else toward the children on sight, but when he first laid eyes on the two he could only registered that they were two babies. Small, pink, and a little squashed; just two cute babies with slightly pointed ears. As of yet there was no way to tell whether the kids’ eyebrows would be the characteristic Vulcan eyebrows or a more human version of that particular trait. Both were pale and green-blooded, although that was only apparent if one looked very closely. Vitaliy had a lot of very black hair while Lyusya was mostly bald, though a few thin bits of dark hair were growing in. They were still tiny, helpless, and unable to even roll, but day by day they were becoming more bright-eyed and alert. As the weeks passed, he spent nearly every waking moment with them, resulting in an ever growing love for them. They were his precious babies that he had brought into this world.

Dr. Edwards visited them at Pavel’s apartment one afternoon, about a week before they were due to leave. She watched Pavel dress Vitaliy and make faces at him. Although both the children were responsive, Vitaliy definitely emoted more. Lyusya had yet to smile, but the doctors had assured Pavel that everything else was fine. They said she emoted less do to Vulcan heritage, and that both babies might take a while longer to become more expressive. He was encouraged to keep smiling and talking to them as much as possible.

"You've given them human names, yes?" asked Dr. Edwards.

Pavel grinned at his son and kissed his forehead before replying to her, "I do not knov many Wulcan ones, or at least names zat would suit eizer of zem. Anyvay, I do not vant zem to feel too attached to a culture vhere zey might newer be velcomed in."

Dr. Edwards nodded, "When are you leaving?"

"In a veek."

"There's been no word from New Vulcan or the Enterprise?"

"Vhy should zere be?" said Pavel, gently lifting Vitaliy to place him in his cot before picking up Lyusya to dress her. "I hawe no need to contact Nev Wulcan as zey vill make me vait a wery long time. If zey bozer viz ze message of my pregnancy at all. I am leawing in a veek and zere is only you and ze ozer people vho helped me viz zis to say goodbye to. I do not plan to message Doctor McCoy until I hawe settled in viz the children."

The doctor moved to lean over the crib and tickled the baby boy beneath his chin. "You're not letting your mother know of your move, then?"

Pavel laughed, the sound of it actually making Dr. Edwards flinch. "My mozer probably does not ewen knov I vas in Starfleet! No, no, zere is nozing, sentimental or ozervise, betveen her and myself."

She sighed, "I'm sorry I asked, again. It's just that it would be in your best interests to gain as much support as possible. Having close bonds with people away from Victoria Six would certainly be beneficial to you and the children."

"Ah, netvorking," said Pavel, and Dr. Edwards faintly registered that his accent had softened since they first met. Pavel smiled as he finished dressing Lyusya and picked her up for a cuddle. "All friendships and families hawe to begin somevhere. Many refugees and runaways are forced to start from scratch. Some fail, but many, many succeed."

"Not that you're a runaway, of course."

"In some vays, yes, I am. But I do hawe at least one friendship here, and zat is you." The young Russian man approached her and with the free arm not supporting his daughter, embraced the doctor. "For all zat you hawe done, since ze wery start, I zank you. I shall miss you, Isabella."

A week later, Pavel boarded the ship that would take him and his children to their new home. The journey would be long, but comfortable and he laughed when he found himself in space for the first time in seven months.

"Is it not beautiful, my children?" he said to the twins, moving their double bassinette close to a window. He hesitated, "Hov strange to zink you two vere conceived in space." Then he burst out laughing. It was a good thing everyone's quarters were soundproof or they would think he was insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyusya=Light  
> Vitaliy=Full of Life


	10. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net; chapters will be labeled accordingly with this message.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

The first person Pavel met when he and the kids arrived on Victoria Six was David. David turned out to own a large portion of the company that the single parent was going to work for and had insisted upon being the first to greet the little family when they left the ship. David was a flirtatious man with a build not unlike Mr. Scotts, but with light brown curly hair that hung around his face in a fashionable way. The man was charming, filthy rich, and about sixteen years Pavel's senior. When they stood in front of each other for the first time David said, "Let me see, you're a young genius; expert in math and science. You play chess, can fight, ridiculously attractive, and you carried twins to term. Is there anything you can't do, Pavel?"

Still in the thrall of post-natal hormones, Pavel had his defenses up. He replied, "I cannot stand being patronized, Sir."

For a split second he thought he had made a terrible mistake, but David just laughed, insisting they get a drink together some time. Of course, Pavel assumed that the older man had meant "have a drink as acquaintances" and nothing else. He was simply being nice and chatting with the new employee.

Not like that mattered much though, because the young Russian didn’t get much time for such things during the first few weeks of his arrival. Thankfully most of his work was allowed to be done at home, giving him time to spend with his babies and put the house together. The children still acted differently from fully human infants so it was nerve wracking to leave them alone for too long. They didn’t cry when they wanted something, Pavel just got a feeling that they needed a certain thing at a certain time. That had to be the bond that the three of them shared, the one that Dr. Edwards had said would form since the two would come to rely on him and learn from him trough that bond. They did, however, whine whenever he was out of their sight for more than two hours. It was common place after the first four times this happened that their “mother” would do his work in the living room, since it had a plush carpet and baby safe furniture, while the little ones crawled around investigating anything they could get their hands on. If there was one thing that worried Pavel it was those two investigating things; they weren’t destructive or getting into potentially harmful things, they just had to know everything. Mother had a food or drink, they needed to try it; Mother had a book or was watching the television, they had to be right there involved with what he was doing. It was equal parts cute and frustrating. The same thing could be said for the twins’ habit of doing the same thing at the same time; meaning he was very good at doing diaper changes fast and correctly.

Pavel worked hard at being a working single parent. Even though his superiors and colleagues supported him and were sympathetic to his situation, he still made sure to make an appearance at the office at least twice a week. Each appearance he brought the kids along with him. They would stare almost unblinkingly at everything and every person that came to say hello and comment on how cute they looked in their matching outfits. After Lyusya had thrown her first, and only, temper tantrum at having to wear a dress Pavel had made a point of buying duplicates of every outfit he bought since the twins seemed to enjoy dressing the same. Absently he wondered if that would be the same for swimsuits too since he did plan on teaching them how to swim in the public pool less than five blocks away from their home when they were older.

He still occasionally felt overwhelmed by everything. It wasn't that he didn't love his job or his children, but he spent so much time fearing that he might never get to this point in his life that it was often sobering whenever the reasons  _why_  he was here came back to him. Whenever he looked at the children, he remembered Spock, but only for a short time before falling in love with the two hybrids all over again. Sometimes he wondered if the memories of Spock while looking at the twins were like the possible memories that his mother had when she looked at him. Maybe that was why she had not wanted to look at him; looking at him reminded her of something she would rather forget. That didn't matter though because he wasn't going to resent his children. He  _adored_  them; they were his world, his everything.

Which probably factored into the reasons as to why he felt strange when David asked him out on a date in a rather blunt way that was characteristic for the man. Naturally there was the lingering hurt of his last relationship that still haunted him. Then there was the fear of going through another relationship that would end disastrously just as he was getting used to the idea of dating that person. There was the fact that he had not really considered having a love life after having the kids too. He had never really thought about love in the first place since his career had dominated his focus before the whole Spock debacle. There was also the fact that if he did start trying to see someone now, that might cut into his work or worse, spending less time with his little prince and princess.

He was not exactly against the idea of going out with David, who seemed to have decent intentions toward Pavel. It was also a plus that the attention he was getting hadn’t been met with hostility from the other employees at the office. It seemed that he had finally found a job where people behaved appropriately when in regards to each other's private lives. However, David's wealth and undeniable sense of status was slightly intimidating. If David actually proved to be some kind of scoundrel, he would suffer absolutely no judgment and Pavel would potentially be left with a broken heart again. He was also acutely aware that David’s life was mostly filled with blank spaces. The rich man was very private and no one around the office knew all that much about him. Yvonne, Pavel's immediate superior told him that David had never dated anyone from the office before. "You must have really caught his eye," she had told him, giving him a little wink. Pavel just heaved a sigh when she had walked away. He had thought he had Spock’s eye when they were effectively married too and that hadn’t ended well.

When Pavel returned home on Friday with the twins sleeping peacefully in their carrier, he thought on the subject a little more. He would be thirty-six when the children became eighteen. He was uncertain whether or not he wished to return to space, and most likely Starfleet, at some point in the future, but the children's needs came first. There was no way he was going to run off on them to go gallivanting across the stars; he was still somewhat haunted by the rumors of Jim Kirk's upbringing. As he bathed the twins right before bed time, Pavel activated the video feed on his PADD and called McCoy for the first time since leaving Earth.

“Hello?” The older man’s tired face came on the screen. The background looked like her was in his personal quarters so Pavel must have timed things just right.

“Hello, Doctor. I apologize if I hawe called at a bad time,” Pavel spoke while the twins investigated the ripples in the water like they always did.

“Chekov?” Now the doctor looked wide awake with a scowl on his face. “Do you have an idea how worried I was? You said you’d call when you settled and then I didn’t hear a damn thing from you.”

“It took longer zen I zought it would to settle. Babies and vork take a lot of free time you knov,” the young parent chided. Vitaliy gave an experimental slap at the shallow water creating a little splash.

McCoy chuckled at the interested noises the twins made as they splashed around in the tub while Pavel bathed them with a soft cloth. “Alright, I’ll let you off the hook this time. So you settle in alright? Everything okay?”

“Ze last of ze boxes hawe been unpacked and vork is good, wery accommodating. Vhat about you? Nozing too nerwe vracking I hope.”

“Nothing more than usual. This crew is filled with idiots and the only intelligent people are the ones stationed in sickbay. Mr. Scott got injured installing a still in the engine room. A still on a Starfleet ship, can you believe that?”

“From vhat I remember of him I can say zat I can,” Pavel chuckled. “Leonard, I hawe a personal problem. I vas vondering if you vould giwe me some adwise.”

Attention grabbed by the use of his seldom heard first name, the doctor was alert and piercing his former crewmate with a concerned look. “What is it, Pavel?”

“Recently, a man named Dawid vho ovns most of ze company I vork for asked me out. As in a date. I do not know vhat to do. He seems nice, but no one at vork knows him zat vell. Zat, and I do not vant to be separated from ze twins for wery long.”

The two adults stayed silent for a while, the only sounds being made were coming from the two in the tub who were nice and clean and splashing each other with warm water. There was a rare smile on Lyusya’s face and Vitaliy was giggling something fierce.

“I can’t tell you what to do, Pavel. Ultimately the choice has to be yours. But I don’t see any reason for you to not go on at least one date with him if he seems alright. If that date goes well then you can go on more,” McCoy suggested. “Just promise me that you’ll call more often and that the first sign of things going south you get away from that guy, okay?”

Pavel nodded with a smile. The two adults continued to talk even after Pavel had dried and redressed the twins in their night clothes. McCoy chuckled at the matching outfits and outright laughed when the single parent explained why he had to dress them like that.

A few nights later, Pavel found himself at a bar, talking with David while a highly recommended babysitter watched the twins. The man was nice looking with his dark eyes and fluffy looking hair. David apparently liked to make people laugh, because Pavel was shaking with laughter in a rather unattractive way by the end of the night. He had a wonderful time, and when David asked if they could go out again, the young parent said yes as long as they kept it less than two hours like they did this time.

They officially started going out after the third date. The Russian had no idea whether the relationship was going to last, but he knew he was happy and that he liked David well enough. Fortunately, older man was almost as intelligent as he was rich so the pair never felt out of their depth when talking to each other. David was too easygoing and polite to turn Pavel away, even when he was being extremely vulgar or flirtatious. He was also curious about the children, but when they arranged a day out with them, Pavel finally felt out of his depth. He didn’t know how David would be around the twins, but as it turned out, he needn't have worried. David wasn't exactly great with infants, but he didn't panic when the twins went tumbling around in the grass or made a fuss when he picked them up. For some reason though, no matter how many times the twins and David were near each other, they didn’t seem to like the other. Pavel could tell not only from the bond with his babies, but from the disgruntled look on David’s face when he thought Pavel wasn’t looking. It was also discovered during all these dates that David owned a mansion, which even David admitted was ridiculously huge and pretentious. "Belonged to my grandfather," he had explained somewhat sheepishly.

Then the day eventually came when David asked about Vitaliy and Lyusya’s other biological parent.

"I admit I had a little look in your file before you came here," he said thoughtfully as he sat in Pavel's kitchen watching him make dinner. "But a lot of it was kind of complicated and I wasn't sure if I really understood it."

Pavel smiled softly even though he felt a little chill at the thought that the man had tried looking through his classified medical file, "I zink I can tell you, if you vant to hear it zat badly."

"You don't have to, I mean that. If you don't think I need to hear it then, please, don't worry about it. But we're dating and you have the kids, I feel like I should understand anything that might come up. I really like you, and the babies are the cutest, even if I'm not the best with them."

"For a bachelor vho is obviously terrified of children, you are not bad viz zem, David." Pavel chose to kept quiet that the twins didn’t like him at all and that the more they interacted with him the less they liked him. No, the Russian would look into that later and possibly talk to Leonard about it.

"Hey, I'm not terrified of anything. Just wary. Kids are smart, especially yours."

"Oh, I know," laughed Pavel with pride. They looked at each other for a moment, and then he took a breath and exhaled lightly, "Vhere should I begin?"


	11. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter adopted from whatisthisnonsense-abandoned on fanfiction.net
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

By now, Pavel accepted that life was not fair and that it was pretty illogical to say the least. He wasn't exactly at peace with that, but he accepted it nonetheless. However, this didn't mean that he wasn't surprised when David casually proposed to him barely a year after meeting each other.

"Vhat?" he practically squeaked, staring at his boyfriend after the man had insisted he wasn't playing some kind of joke.

"Let's get married," said David, amused and completely unmoved by Pavel's incredulousness. "We're happy. We make each other laugh, we're into the same things, and we look  _great_  together."

"I cannot beliewe zis," said Pavel. "Ve are not ewen in lowe! Ve are happy, sure, but zis is the most casual-serious relationship ewer!"

"But it's still a  _successful_  relationship. And we love each other, even if we're not  _in_  love. And I love the kids, and they love me."

"Vhy  _marriage_? Vhy can ve not just try living togezer or somezing first?" Pavel had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from adding that the kids didn’t love him. They _hated_ him.

"We can do that if you want, and I'm not saying this is going to end out relationship or anything if you don’t accept, Babe." David smiled apologetically, "I'll be honest, I'm proposing for selfish reasons. My father has been trying to make me marry you since he figured out he wasn't going to get grandchildren any other way but marriage. Second, you know how much the people at headquarters on Earth love monogamy. Even though we've been dating for over ten months, it would look better if we were married. It would make us look good in general.”

If anyone else had said what David was saying right now they would have probably gotten punched in the face by now. He knew David though. He knew how they were together. They had both uncomfortably admitted to not being passionately in love months previously, but they both desperately wanted to stay together since they were so fond of each other. David had made a joke at the time, at how they were already an old married couple. Clearly that had put ideas into his head.

"But marriage, Dawid? Just zink about vhat you are saying! Ve vould be liwing togezer. Ve vould, right?" he asked, eyeing the now nodding man. "Zere vould be tvo babies making noise and messes all ze time, ve vould hawe to tolerate each ozer."

"You have no faith," sighed David dramatically. Then he smiled kindly at the younger man, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I live in a huge house. Sure, I'd rather be sharing a bed with you, but you're entitled to your own wing in that old place. And the kids aren’t that bad, not for one-year-olds, or so I'm told."

Pavel just laughed in disbelief, "And vhat if one day, one or boz of us vant to be viz ozer people?"

"Not a problem. If either of us wants to date outside the marriage, that's fine; as long as the other doesn't mind. We should probably maintain a front of monogamy unless any other attachments get more serious, and if that happens we can get a divorce."

They talked for a long time; Pavel still not quite certain whether to believe that this was happening.

"Dawid," he said with a sigh, "I vant to trust you and beliewe zat zis vould vork, but I am not certain zat I can. Ze last relationship I vas in, I seriously misjudged ze situations and ewen zough I knov I vas not in ze vrong, I still made a lot of mistakes. I trusted too easily and vas out of my depz from ze beginning."

David took Pavel's hands in his, stroking his thumbs along pale skin. "Your last relationship was with a self-absorbed asshole," he said softly. "I'm sorry, Pavel. I didn't do this very well. But the offer still stands. I do want to marry you. I think, no, I  _know_  we'd be amazing together, and if anything we'd have a lot of fun. But it's not a necessity, and you don't even have to think about it if it's too ridiculous for you. Just... please don't break up with me over it," he finished quickly.

"I vill not," laughed Pavel. "And you hawe not offended me or anyzing, it is just that I do not quite see vhat ve vould do afterwards. Ve vould be  _married_ , Dawid. I hawe children. Do you actually vant to be a parent to zem? Because you can be casual vith me, but  _not_  vith zem, not ewer."

"I'll become a willing parent to Lyusya and Vitaliy. They wouldn't have to address me as 'father' or anything like that if that's going to be an issue, but if they want to, they can. If you marry me I'll dote on them, teach them, and give them advice as soon as they're old enough to need it; the whole damn thing. Of course I'll do that whether we're married or not, if we're still together or talking at least."

It took four weeks for Pavel to give David an answer, and he wasn't sure who was more surprised by his decision. He came to a conclusion after a particularly restless night of getting up to deal with Lyusya, who kept fussing, and from being unable to switch his thoughts off. It was odd, but his contemplation of marrying had become very, very selfish, even as he tried to remain thoughtful of David and the twins. He thought over David's words, _"It would make us look good."_   Yes, he supposed they did look good together. With Lyusya and Vitaliy, they looked like a proper family. They looked mature, like nothing could touch them. So the next day Pavel called David and said bluntly, "I zink ve should get married."

The wedding was highly publicized on Victoria Six, even though they hadn't allowed photography of any kind during the ceremony. It wasn't extraordinarily grand, for neither had many friends and even less family. Just about the entire office was invited though. Pavel didn't tell his mother, she had never responded to the news of the twins anyway. There just didn't seem any point in trying to tell her. He also kept his surname. For some reason he hadn’t liked the idea of changing his last name, nor his children’s. It would change things too much, and what if things didn’t work out? David had been fine with it even when his father had kicked up a fuss which Pavel quickly ignored, taking the twins with him when he left. Besides that, the twins were aware of what was going on, though everyone else thought he was lying. They didn’t like the idea of the marriage, but accepted it since it made their mother happy, according to the bond. He also picked up on a lot of hostility aimed at David and his father when the conversation about last names came up. Marriage or not, Pavel wasn’t going to force his prince and princess to do anything they absolutely refused to do.

Of all the stupid things he had ever done in his life, this one took the cake. It was the single most stupid decision he had ever made, but as he said his vows he was filled with warm delight. This felt right, even though it felt so terribly  _wrong_.


	12. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

Married life with David was shockingly sweet. They lived together in David’s large mansion, but Pavel kept his house instead of selling it like what David said to do. For some reason having the house in his name made him feel better, especially if the whole affair went south. He even left the majority of his things there, choosing to take the gifts that David bought him to stock his domain within the mansion. Plus, David didn’t have a key to the house so there was no fear of David getting in if Pavel didn’t want him there.

That aside, Pavel got his own wing just as David had promised, with the twins in a nursery that was connected to his room. It was a nice set of rooms too. There was a big bed with a soft mattress and expensive quality sheets on it, actual wooden furniture made centuries ago, soft carpet floors, and soft blue walls. He wasn’t a fan of the top of the line cribs as they were very high in technology, Pavel personally preferred the simpler designs with minimal technology.

He and David spent hours together. They ate as a family, went out on dates even though they were married, and overall had a wonderful time with each other. David was so sweet and made it so that he had everything he could possibly want.

It was everything that Pavel could have asked for and more.

Until everything changed that is.

* * *

It was raining on his day off. The one day of the week that Pavel didn’t have to do any work and Victoria Six decides it needs to rain. He had been looking forward to taking Lyusya and Vitaliy to the park so they could play with other kids. They didn’t interact with children their age that much and the now married Russian was worried that it would affect them later on in life. Without interaction with other children, his little prince and princess may not learn to emote well enough to make it through society easily due to a lack of examples in their youth. After all, Pavel could only do so much and their Vulcan heritage was strong in them. Vulcan’s, though incredibly smart, had a stigma about them that they were emotionless robots. The young parent was determined to have his babies act more human than Commander Spock so they wouldn’t have to deal with cruel words like that.

Hearing his PADD start to beep, Pavel turned away from the droplet covered window to look at the name. Smiling he answered while petting Lyusya’s dark hair which had grown in thick and curly not unlike Pavel’s blonde locks.

“Hello, Leonard,” he greeted.

“Hey there, Pavel,” the Enterprise doctor smiled gently at him. The two had gotten closer through their scattered conversations and were now comfortable with use each other’s first names. “How are things going over there? How’s married life treating you?”

“Oh, Leonard, it is vonderful. Dawid is so sveet to me and zey tvins, but I vorry,” Pavel drifted off as he started to play with Vitaliy’s hair which was curly as well and a lighter shade than Lyusya’s, almost like a dark brown color instead of Vulcan black.

“What are you worried about what?” the southern man asked.

“I vorry about Lyusya and Vitaliy. No matter vhat is done, ze tvo of zem just do not seem to like Dawid.” Pavel pouted when the other man laughed.

“Pavel, that’s normal. Any kid in the same situation would respond the same way. The new parent entering their lives is someone they don’t know, and kids won’t trust easily. To them, David is steeling you away from them, and they don’t like sharing the attention with anyone, but each other,” Leonard explained.

“Z-zat makes a lot of sense. Vhat do you zink vill help zem get ower zis?” The door to his bedroom opened and closed. That was probably David looking for him.

“Personally I think you need to stop pushing them to accept the change. They’ll adjust at their own rate and not any faster. It’ll take time, so you need to be patient,” Leonard advised. He was so knowledgeable, probably because he was a father as well and talked to his daughter almost weekly now. Leonard had once told him with excitement that if he survived the five year mission and his daughter wanted to, Starfleet would help him gain custody of the girl and she could go on the Enterprise with him. The older man had been almost bouncing when he told Pavel.

Seeing David in the doorway of the nursery that connected it to his bedroom, Pavel paused. The older man looked extremely unhappy, as if something at work went wrong in a rather spectacular way.

“Leonard, I hawe to go now. Dawid came back from vork,” he said.

“Sure thing Pavel, I’ll talk to you some other time.” With a wave they disconnected.

“Vhat is vrong, Dawid?” Pavel asked as he placed the twins on the soft carpet.

“Who was that?” David asked a little heatedly.

“Leonard. I told you about him. Remember? Ze only person to try and defend me?” Pavel frowned, he knew that he had told David about Leonard.

“And what? You’re all chummy with him? Since when was he ‘Leonard’?” David snarled as he advanced towards the smaller male.

Pavel’s eyes narrowed as he held his ground when David stopped right in front of him. “Just vhat are you accusing me of?”

“Are you sleeping with him?” David snapped.

Blinking, Pavel tried to get over the shock of the accusation. When he finally processed what his husband had said the young parent felt a spike of pure rage course through his body.

“Excuse me? How dare you accuse me of somezing like zat! I hawe done no such zing! Furzer more, ewen if I vas doing zat, you said before ve got married zat we could sleep viz anyone ve vant as long as ve look like a happy couple in public!” Pavel snarled back. This was absurd! He was being accused of being unfaithful yet again!

“Just answer the question, are you fucking him?” David screamed at him.

“I said no!” Pavel yelled right back, “He is aboard ze Enterprise! How vould za-”

A sharp slap resounded in the room.

Pavel turned his face so he was facing his husband again with his left check bright red and stinging. He gently placed his left hand on the pained part of his face and stared in shock at David. Yet he wasn’t really seeing David. It was like he knew David was there and could physically see him, but in his mind he was remembering when he had experienced something similar. Something that happened when he had been married to a certain Vulcan.

“You hit me,” he whispered.

“Pavel, I-“ David started looking horrified.

“You hit me.” Tears started forming in his eyes. He could feel a large amount of distress and anger coming from the twins’ bond.

“P-Pavel I-I’m sorry,” David’s voice quivered. He brought Pavel into a tight hug, petting his hair as he whispered to him, “I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again, Babe. I’m sorry.”

Pavel stayed in the embrace, but he took no comfort in it. He was remembering what he had tried to forget for so long. He didn’t want to leave David, but this was almost exactly how things started to collapse between him and the Vulcan Commander. He hoped David wouldn’t turn out to be like Commander Spock.

He also knew this event wouldn’t endear the twins to his husband either.


	13. Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

He should have listened to his instincts sooner. Hell, he should have listened to Lyusya and Vitaliy’s reactions from the beginning. He only had himself to blame for not seeing it for what it was in the beginning.

Pavel wept bitter tears as he called the police from the twins’ bedroom in the back of his house. Angry screaming accompanied by banging on the locked front door had him cradling his babies close. He wasn’t going to deal with this again, especially since he had children to think about this time.

David hadn’t kept his promise.

After the slap incident things had been tentative for a few weeks before returning to normal. Then David started becoming possessive again. It started when he began demanding that Pavel not talk to certain people at work which then escalated to forcing him to work from home all the time. He restricted time outside the mansion and the frightened young man had to be in David’s presence if he did leave. The final straw was the older man forcing himself on Pavel and then threatening to send the twins away if he didn’t do as told.

No one threatened his babies.

So on the night where David was sure to be pulling an all-nighter somewhere outside the mansion, Pavel took the children and ran back to the house he had started in. There he had enough food that was still edible to live off for a few weeks and even then he had an emergency replicator. All points of entry were locked, shades and curtains drawn closed, and he bunked down in the twins’ sunrise painted bedroom.

Of course he called into work the next morning to use all of his saved sick time and personal days so he could avoid his husband until things were sorted out. He hadn’t expected David to be in the office nor that he would be told that the young man was going to be absent for a while. The infuriated older man came banging on the door not thirty minutes after Pavel had called in. At first he had sounded worried, but as time passed with the door never opening and no verbal responses, his tone changed to enraged.

“Police, how may I help you?” a voice answered the call.

“M-my name is Pawel Chekow. P-please, send s-someone r-right avay. My hu-husband is trying to b-break into ze house I own. He is wery angry. I am afraid of vhat he vill do if he gets in,” Pavel sobbed as an especially loud bang came from the door.

“Alright sir, tell me the address and I’ll send someone over.”

“45 Minute Awenue; about 20 minutes from ze shuttle port.”

“Alright, I’ve got someone on the way. Now Mr. Chekov, I need you to tell me what happened to make your husband act like this,” the officer at the other end instructed.

“I-I left his house and called in absent from vork,” Pavel whimpered

“Alright, why did you leave your husband’s residence?”

“He- he vas being too controlling. He did not let me leave unattended and f-forced himself on me. H-he zreatened to take my children avay,” he was crying anew now.

The officer was quiet for a moment before continuing the conversation, “Mr. Chekov, has your husband ever physically assaulted you? I mean, has he ever hit you?”

“Just-Just once. A hard slap to ze face for talking to an old colleague of mine. He accused me of cheating.”

It felt like forever with the officer gently asking questions about him, his marriage, and the children. David kept banging on the door even as the police stopped outside the house. Pavel heard him trying to act the concerned husband, but the officer he was on the phone with drew his attention away saying that he shouldn’t listen to the man. It grew quiet for a bit before three brisk knocks hit the door. The officer on the phone told him to check out the window; it was an officer that had been dispatched so the officer on the phone said goodbye. Opening the door a crack, Pavel looked at the stern yet genuinely concerned man standing on his door step.

“Mr. Chekov?”

“Y-yes?”

“We have apprehended Mr. Dexter. Are you alright?”

“Sh-shaken, but fine, Sir.”

“Would you like to press charges?”

Pavel paused. Did he want to press charges against David? Thinking back on all the things David had done, the answer seemed clear. This time he was going to prove he would not stand being treated like this. With a hard look in his blue eyes Pavel answered:

“Yes, I vould.”

* * *

Hours later Pavel finally got the chance to call the one person he really wanted to talk to. After the police took David away Pavel had talked to his lawyer, Mr. West, to work on the lawsuit and the divorce that was necessary at this point. He had also called Dr. Edwards to let her know the situation and that once everything was resolved he was moving back to Earth. Mr. West was on his way over and was confident they would win both cases. The female doctor had mother henned him for at least an hour before he told her he had to go.

With the kids cuddled to his chest, Pavel waited with baited breath and bloodshot eyes for the other person to pick up. His prince and princess refused to sleep during their normal nap time and they were still refusing even though it was way past their bed time. He just knew they would be cranky in the morning.

“’Ello?” Came the tired voice of the Enterprise CMO.

“L-Leonard, I- I vas so wery stupid,” Pavel whimpered. He felt the twins nuzzle his chest.

“Pavel? Wha’ happened? Wha’s wrong?” Leonard’s face appeared on the screen as he activated the video feed.

“D-Dawid vas vorse zan I zought. L-Leonard; he hit me, he forced me to hawe sex viz him, he vanted to take my babies avay,” Pavel sobbed out, holding the twins closer to him. They didn’t protest, just nuzzled and sent waves of love through their bond with him.

“Shi’; Pavel, are ya okay? How bad did he hur’ ya? I swear I’ll kill ‘im!” the southern man snarled over the feed, his face a mixture of anger and concern.

“I am suing him. Mr. Vest says ve can vin. I am scared zough, Dawid is a poverful man here. I zink I hawe to mowe back to Earth after zis. Vhat am I going to do, Leonard?”

“Ya do what ya can. Check in with me every day, more than once if ya need to. Ya aren’t going through this alone, not this time. I’m going to be with you all the way,” Leonard said, his southern drawl disappearing as he woke up. “I’ll see how soon I can get leave that way I can be there in person. So keep me posted on what’s going on. I mean it.”

“Yes, I vill.”

They spent hours talking before the older man had to get ready for his shift. By that point Lyusya and Vitaliy had fallen asleep on Pavel’s chest. As he turned off the PADD and laid his head down, Pave quickly followed them into the world of dreams.

* * *

Leonard went through his work in a timely manner while being unusually quiet. It made everyone in medbay uneasy as a quiet Dr. McCoy meant a CMO that was so angry he could barely speak. Only one thing could get McCoy that angry. Something had happened to Chekov. Oh, the crew assigned to the Enterprise medbay knew the good doctor was still in contact with the young blonde who had been disgraced off the ship. In fact, most of them agreed with Leonard that Chekov was completely innocent, but there was no way any of them could combat the captain’s orders without potentially losing their jobs.

Then the Captain walked in.

“Hey, Bones. I need to talk to you,” James T. Kirk called to the sour man.

“What?” the older man growled viciously.

“Care to explain why Uhura told me that you were talking to someone off ship for six hours before your shift started?” the blonde questioned.

“No, I don’t think I need to explain my personal life to you,” McCoy snarled. Ever since Chekov had been dismissed their friendship had been strained.

“Hey, I just want to know. Uhura said that the other side was protected by some extremely heavy walls that wouldn’t even give her a location of origin.” The captain raised his hands in defense.

“Well tell Uhura to mind her own damn business! It’s my personal life and I don’t need to have you people nosing around in it!” the brunette finally yelled at the nuisance.

“What is your problem, Bones?” Jim yelled back.

“My problem is that no one on this damn death trap seems to know that a person’s private life is not something to be gossiped about! The only ones that do know are working in Medical!” the doctor screamed back, his hands clenching over the PADD and stylist in them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“First it happens to Chekov and he gets thrown off without a proper investigation! Now everyone is demanding to know my personal life! Am I going to be thrown off next because everyone is suddenly paranoid over who I talk to? Huh? Is that it? Going to not question things and toss the one the rumors are about? This place makes me sick! It’s like living and working with my ex-wife!” McCoy ranted.

“You’re out of line, McCoy!” Kirk roared.

“Only because you know I’m telling the truth that you’re ignoring! Now get out of my medbay or I’ll give you a reason to stay here!”

With that Kirk stormed out.   Leonard would probably regret that later, but right now he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to fail Pavel this time. Thankfully there were no patients in or Leonard would have had to snap about the sudden applause from his subordinates.


	14. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

With a satisfied sigh, Leonard closed his suitcase. He had packed all of his personal things: civilian clothes, picture frames, and the couple books that he always kept on him because they helped him work through the hard times of his life. The books weren’t anything special, but they had things written in them that encouraged him to do better, to fight for what he believed in. If only he had them when his marriage fell apart.

That aside, Leonard was ready for his leave. Being one of the only people to never really take a vacation, the doctor had racked up at least two months worth of personal time. And he was using it to be there for Pavel. A trial date had been set and Leonard would be damned if he didn’t try to make it there in time. All he had to do was get off at the station the Enterprise was stopping at in a few hours and catch either the first or second shuttle heading to Victoria Six. If there were no complications then he would get there about three days before the trail. Then, after the trial, they would pack up and head to Earth.

With a smile that was more feral than happy, Leonard picked up his suitcase and brought it to his office with him. He had to be on duty before they docked, so he had decided to save himself a trip and bring the luggage with him to work. Besides, there was a picture he wanted from there.

He was just down the hall from medbay when he was stopped by one of the three people he absolutely hated on this God forsaken ship.

“Doctor McCoy, might I enquire where you are going?” Spock asked in his Vulcan way.

“No, you may not ask,” Leonard replied stiffly. He was already in hot water with Kirk, he didn’t need the hobgoblin giving him grief too.

The Vulcan gave him a blank look, which was how his face always appeared. “Your suitcase indicates that you are planning on leaving.”

“Mind your own business, Commander,” the full human snarled.

“I am merely stating an observation, Doctor. It is illogical that it would invoke such a response.” Damn green blooded bastard.

“In all honesty, Commander; I don’t find your observation skills to be as skilled as you claim them to be.” A raised eyebrow meant the Vulcan was intrigued. “After all, if you were that good, you could tell that I’m tired of everyone putting their noses into my personal life,” the doctor griped.

Silence reigned between the two as the Vulcan seemed to process what Leonard had said to him.

“I apologize, I did not intend for to offend,” Spock finally spoke.

“Apology accepted,” Leonard replied even though he really didn’t want to. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m due on shift soon.” He made it about five steps past the Vulcan before he was called back again.

“What now?”

“Nyota has expressed an interest in celebrating the date we began our relationship. I have heard that it is customary to give gifts on such occasions. Would you know of a place where I might procure such an item?”

That was probably the most Leonard had even heard the Vulcan say. Normally he would have made a joke about it, but all he could feel was rage. So Spock never broke up with her when he was with Pavel. The green blooded bastard! Celebrating an anniversary was something the Southern man knew Pavel would have loved doing. Spock should have done things like that with Pavel!

“I suggest you ask someone else,” he said with gritted teeth, “I haven’t been in a relationship in a long time.”

“A logical assessment.” With that he turned away and stormed to medbay. How he wanted to kill the Vulcan!

Luckily he made it to medbay where he was greeted by Nurse Chapel who was sending some stupid engineer on his way.

“You look ready to kill,” she commented as she set the biobed for a sterilizing cycle. With a growl Leonard went to his office and set down his suitcase. He quickly took the photo of him and his little girl and put it in the suitcase.

“I swear if Spock, Kirk, or Uhura try to stop me from leaving I’m going to kill them. On that note, you’re in charge while I’m gone,” the man growled.

“I’ll do my best while you’re gone.” She walked past him to place a PADD on his desk. “By the way, I can totally help you hide a body.”

A smirk graced his lips as he signed the PADD and joined her in the main room. “Trust me, if I ever need to hide a body, you’ll be the first to know.”

“So you think you can get there in time?” Christine asked. She was smart, he would give her that; she brought it up when there were no patients around.

“As long as I catch either the first or second shuttle I can,” he responded as he leaned against the wall next to his office door.

“Give my support?” she asked.

“I’ll give everyone’s support, but I’ll make sure that yours is the most memorable.”

“Next to yours of course.”

“Naturally.”

They smiled at each other. This topic was always talked about in the vaguest of terms. One could never know who was listening. So far, the gossip mill was surprisingly low on rumor material on Leonard; the only one being that he was in an intimate relationship with Christine, which was not true. As such, there were too many times where the CMO found an ensign trying to over hear something or get him to admit to some random thing that they could then spread around the ship. The gossip mill had finally stopped talking about Pavel too, so there was a greater need to protect him so that he wasn’t dragged back into it. So those on the young Russian’s side talked in either vague terms or in a code that every supporter understood.

How they hadn’t been caught by Uhura, the one who knew all the rumors that were circulating, Leonard would never know, but he was extremely grateful all the same.


	15. Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

After what seemed like a never ending journey on that nerve wracking shuttle, Leonard H. McCoy finally landed on Victoria Six. Cursing under his breath at the damned vessel, Leonard grabbed his suitcase from the over head storage and disembarked. He passed all the welcome parties and sign holders, heading straight outside the station and hailed a taxi. Giving the address that Pavel had told him, Leonard settled into the surprisingly clean back seats.

“You’re going to this address?” the cabbie asked while looking at the doctor in the rear view mirror.

“Yes, I am. I’d appreciate getting there before night fall,” Leonard growled at the man, daring him to say one negative thing about Pavel.

“Alright, alright; don’t need to get snippy. Just a lot of things being said about the family that lives there.” The taxi pulled away from the shuttle station as the man continued speaking, “Word is that-“

“I don’t like gossip,” the doctor snarled sharply.

“Sorry,” the cabbie apologized.

From then on the ride was silent.

Finally with some quiet, McCoy was able to think back on the good fortune he had during his departure from the Enterprise. After shift, Leonard had made it to the teleporting pads and beamed to the station the Enterprise was refueling at. From there he worked his way through security check and had just gotten his suitcase back from the random check he had been selected for when he heard his name being called. Uhura had apparently followed him to the station and was charging toward him with a look that said she wanted answers only to be brought up short by the security officers. It took everything in him to refrain from smirking at her as she argued with the uniforms. Quickly the southern born man got through his gate and took the seat closest to the bathroom. As the shuttle took off, it was the last one he could catch that would land before Pavel’s trial, Leonard smiled to himself over the fact that he had escaped yet another Uhura interrogation.

“We’re here,” the voice of the cabbie broke through his thoughts.

Nodding, Leonard paid the man and climbed out to stand on the sidewalk with his suitcase in hand.

This was it; about two years after that horrible incident on the Enterprise, Leonard was finally going to talk to Pavel in person and not on a video screen. He would get to interact with the kids in person too! Gathering his courage and excitement, the CMO walked to the door as the taxi drove away. Then he realized there were news vans all over the road. Great, they would probably spin some stupid story about Pavel and him being lovers and that the divorce and lawsuit were just a ploy to get money. Damn reporters. Knocking on the green painted door, the doctor waited patiently for a response.

There was the sound of rushed footsteps coming from the back of the building towards the door before it was opened by a tired looking Pavel. His blonde hair was a little longer than when he left the flagship, he must have let it grow out. Those bloodshot blue eyes lit up as the smaller man processed who was standing on his doorstep.

“Leonard, you came.” The blonde sounded extremely tired confirming the CMO’s suspicion that he hadn’t been sleeping well.

“I told you I would. Now, are you going to let me in or are we going to stand here and let the reporters tell tall tales about us?” he joked.

Laughing slighting, Pavel moved out of the way to let the older man in. Shutting the door he led him toward the back of the house. “Zey hawe already done zat. Mr. Vest and I had a press conference that you vould be coming and zen ve vould leave after the trial. Zey seem to zink ve are lowers,” the blonde sighed.

“Reporters should stick to reporting facts and actual news, not gossip,” Leonard snarled. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid on the Enterprise. Pavel didn’t deserve to have his name dragged through the mud all over again!

Stopping by a guest bedroom so Leonard could leave his suitcase there to deal with later, the two then went towards what had to be the Pavel and the kids’ room. They wandered through an open doorway where the older man stopped for a second while the younger continued in. Leonard drank in the sight of the kids instantly toddling towards their mother. If his math was right then the twins were around a year old and being part Vulcan probably helped them develop at either a normal or just above the normal rate of a fully human child.

“Lyusya, Vitaliy, zis is Leonard. He is my friend and vill be liwing viz us for a vhile,” Pavel said as he picked them both up at the same time before walking over to the older man. Obviously he had practiced that move quite a bit.

The twins stared at the brunette wordlessly, as if accessing whether or not the doctor was worthy of being in the presence of their mother. Suddenly they both reached out and started to poke at his arms with just one finger each. Raising his eyes to the parent he received a bright smile.

“Zey like you,” Pavel reassured him. “Zey vould not touch you ozervise.”

“Do they know how to talk yet?” Leonard asked. His Joanna had been talking a mile a minute, even when she could only babble.

“Yes, but I beliewe zat zey do not speak often because of zeir Wulcan heritage.”

“That’s a good theory, most Vulcan’s I’ve seen are like mimes. Except for that one Vulcan elder, he can talk up a storm if you let him.”

“Vhich elder?” Pavel tilted his head to the side.

“The one that Commander Spock and Captain Kirk are always talking about. I heard he was nearly thrown out of a council meeting because he was trying to clear your name,” Leonard reported. He had heard Kirk and Spock talking about it the last time they left New Vulcan.

“Vell I guess not all Wulcan’s are taking ze Commander’s side,” the Russian gave a smirk at the fact that it must vex the Commander that an elder of his race is saying he is wrong.

Feeling a tug on his sleeve Leonard looked down to see Lyusya holding the fabric in a tight grip. Looking back to Pavel, the blonde shrugged.

“She vants you to hold her.”

“How do you know that?”

“Wulcan family bond zing. Dr. Edvards explained it once.”

Cautiously, Leonard took the small girl from her mother’s arms and held her close to his chest, much in the same way he had done for his own daughter when she was this size. For a few seconds the little black haired girl shifted and fussed before settling in his arms and began inspecting him from her new vantage point. Pavel laughed at Leonard’s bewildered look as he lightly bounced Vitaliy, adding a set of giggles into the mix.

“Vell zey definitely like you!”

Seeing how Pavel’s entire demeanor changed when in the presence of his children, and the fact that they accepted the doctor, filled the southern man with a sense of joy. The blonde deserved a little bit of happiness after all the hell he had been through.

“So, you have any food in this place? If you do, let me see it; I’ll cook us something while you take it easy. Don’t think I can’t tell that you’re dead on your feet,” Leonard grinned which then had Lyusya poking at his cheek, specifically at the barely noticeable dimples.


	16. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

Throughout the trial against Pavel’s now ex-husband, Leonard found it incredibly hard to not jump over the railing and beat the ever living hell out of the ass. The entire time the guy tried to play down the fact that he had abused Pavel! It was an accident, he didn’t mean to do it, Pavel chose to stay at home instead of going to the office like what he used to. It disgusted him even more that the man’s father and several employees that were clearly coached, or they were just too blind to see who the monster really was! Thankfully, Pavel’s lawyer was amazing at his job. Mr. West asked questions that the answers incriminated David, he presented damning, legitimate evidence, and called many reliable witnesses that focused on the actions of Pavel and David before and during their relationship.

Needless to say Mr. West won that case.

Now Leonard, Pavel, and the twins were back on Earth again after yet another fear inducing shuttle ride. Leonard really hated flying.

With a shove Leonard dislodged the stuck wooden door from the frame giving him entry into the extremely underused apartment. He had bought this apartment after the Nero thing so that he would be close to Starfleet if he was needed, but still far enough away that he wouldn’t run into cadets or other Starfleet annoyances.

Flicking on the lights the doctor took in the heavy layers of dust and grime covering every surface with a strong sense of disgust. This would have to be cleaned before they could move in, no way was he going to let Pavel or the twins live in this mess.

“Vhat does it look like?” the Russian asked.

“Like a dust utopia,” he groaned. “We’ll have to clean this out before even thinking of moving in.”

Pavel put the twins, still in their double stroller, in park on the surprisingly intact porch. Walking over to Leonard, he looked around him and wrinkled his nose in distaste. It was a good thing that the moving van didn’t have to be returned for a while.

“Vell, go to ze store and get cleaning supplies. Ze faster ve get zis done, ze faster ve can mowe in and return ze truck,” he reasoned.

With a nod the southern man went jogging toward where Pavel guessed there was a grocery store. While waiting, Pavel started moving boxes to the porch. Not a lot, just a few boxes that he could lift on his own and he knew wouldn’t get in the way if they had to move any furniture.

Hearing a noise behind him after placing a box, Pavel turned to see the twins had gotten out of their stroller. For the sixth time. At least they stayed in their car seats, but they always got out of the stroller.

“Vhy did you do zat?” the now, again, single parent sighed.

“Mama,” the two said while slowly toddling toward him.

A bright smile lit up Pavel’s face. This was the first time his prince and princess were taking the initiative in both talking and walking. Normally they only did so after a lot of prodding on Pavel’s part. Vitaliy reached him first and latched onto his right leg, giving a small smile up at him. Lyusya, just a fraction slower than he brother, fell onto his left leg. She fisted his pant leg in her small hands and though her face was blank, her eyes shone with determination and love. Grinning Pavel bent down and picked up both overall and green shirt wearing children in his arms. He could feel their love for him and how happy they were to be far away from David.

“Mama lowes you too,” he said to them.

“I think I missed something.” Leonard chuckled with a raised eyebrow.

“Ze walked and talked vizout my prompting zem!” the blonde replied with a little pout.

“And I missed it? I wanted to catch that on camera!” With a dramatic sigh Leonard placed his bags of cleaning supplies by the door. He fished out masks for all of them, even some for the twins, and made sure everyone had them on properly. “Alright, I’ll start first, then you can go in while I take a break and watch the kids. That good with you?” He turned to Pavel to await his answer.

Shaking his head the blonde gave the twins to Leonard. “No, I vill go first. You vatch zem. Be careful, zey are sneaky.” With that Pavel picked up his dirt and grime fighting tools and charged into the apartment.

Blinking, Leonard looked down at the small faces that were staring right back at him.

“Your mama is a strong man, but really weird too.” Leonard sighed as the two started poking at the masks on their faces and the one on his face while large plumes of dust started coming out of the door and the newly opened windows. “And we’re back to the poking.”

The twins paused for a few seconds before Lyusya put her hand on the doctor’s cheek and Vitaliy took hold of a lock of hair and gently tugged on it. Sighing, Leonard sat down on the steps and waited for Pavel to tire himself out. He placed each child on his lap and let them poke and prod at the duster he had grabbed from the bag. For a moment he wished Joanna had been this easy to deal with. Lyusya and Vitaliy were so easily absorbed in whatever they were investigating that all he had to do was find something they didn’t know about and show it to them, they would be entertained for hours. Or at least for as long as it takes for them to figure out what the item was and what it was used for. Well he couldn’t change the past, and even if he could, he wouldn’t bother trying.

Suddenly the duster hit him in the forehead. He shook it off and blinked at the giggling children in his arms. Well, quarter Vulcan’s definitely acted different compared to half and full Vulcans.


	17. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

It took forever, but finally everything was unpacked and the apartment was livable. Between the two of them, Leonard and Pavel managed to clean the entire building and move all the things from the moving van into the building. After that they went out to a kid friendly restaurant in town for dinner as neither of them were willing to cook after all the work they had done. Then it took about four days to get everything in the correct rooms, one day to make sure all the large items that needed to be pieced together were built and functioning properly, and then it took almost a week for them to unpack everything else. All the while they had to keep the twins entertained and out of the way. Nap time was truly a blessing in regards to the unpacking process.

Now the apartment wasn’t anything real special. Leonard owned half of a tan building which allowed him to have two floors and an attic, which he tried to keep as empty as possible ever since the roof leaked once. On the ground floor, starting from the front door, there was a pale yellow painted living room with one brown couch that was in decent condition, a flat screen television, and several bookcases now filled with medical texts, children books, and the fantasy and mystery novels that Pavel liked. There was also the kitchen which was the only room in the apartment besides the bathrooms that had tile floors and light green walls. There were actual kitchen appliances and a wooden table with matching chairs so every possible meal would be made, none of that replicator stuff even though there was one if they needed it, and a back door leading to the small backyard that in reality was too small for the twins to play in. On the second floor there were two bedrooms and a shared master bathroom to match the half bathroom on the first floor. One bedroom was Leonard’s, it was smaller with grey walls and the same hard oak wood floors found throughout the living space. The furniture was all wooden and fairly simple and Leonard made sure to keep his room very organized. Pavel got the intended master bedroom to share with the twins. Finally he was getting them to sleep in their separate cribs so that he could sleep alone in the large bed that Leonard let him have.

It was a quiet day for the roommates. They had slept in and Leonard made a late brunch that consisted of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Much to the adults surprise the twins actually ate the small bits of bacon that they insisted on having with their other small portions. Apparently quarter Vulcans had no qualms about eating meat, though Leonard would watch them like a hawk to make sure there weren’t any bad reactions to the fried meat. After the twins’ bath they were dressed in matching jean shorts and red T-shirts, they were brought out onto the front porch for some fresh air. After Pavel made sure that everyone had sunscreen on.

Leonard grinned as he watched Lyusya and Vitaliy figure out that they could spell things with the blokes they were building with. They started spelling out words they knew and some they saw during their bed time stories. When they got bored of that they started to connect the words as if they were filling in a crossword puzzle. The doctor himself was reading his way through the morning newspaper in a pair of blue jeans and a green T-shirt while sitting across the steps in case the twins got any ideas. Pavel was sitting in one of the two wicker chairs with a mystery novel open on his lap dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a dark purple T-shirt. With the sun out it truly was a perfect day.

Then Leonard’s PADD went off.

Pavel curiously looked up; it wasn’t often that either of them received messages on their PADDs, most of the time it was a doctor or Mr. West looking for the Russian. Sighing, Leonard set his paper on his lap and reluctantly picked up the device. His scowled at the name on the screen. Vaguely, he wondered about how much trouble he could get in for ignoring Uhura’s communication.

“Is there a reason you’re contacting me on my vacation, Lieutenant Uhura?” he scowled at the furious looking woman.

“I want to know about those protected communications,” she snapped. Pavel visibly flinched which reminded the doctor to keep the small family out of the camera shot.

“I don’t have to tell you anything and watch you’re tone, Lieutenant. I out rank you and have a lot more connections than you do.” There was something very satisfying in seeing a flash of fear on her face.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I can and will. You’re not that best thing to happen to the universe and I don’t have to cater to you.” With a vicious smile he raised a hand to wave, “Now stop bothering me, I still have a week before I have no choice, but to put up with you.” He disconnected the call before she could respond.

“I did not know I vas causing you problems,” Pavel said quietly, his voice easily heard due to them living in a calm and quiet area. His accent finally seemed to be softening too.

“Not you, just idiots who think they need to know everything in the ship. She probably just wants to know so she can either rat me out or spread more rumors about me.” The southern man shrugged his shoulders, not really bothered by it anymore. He was too used to it by now, and he always ranted about the idiocy in the privacy of his medbay.

“If you are certain zat it vas not because of me,” the blonde trailed off.

“I’m certain, Pavel,” he chuckled. “By the way, that Mr. West guy? He’s made it so that Joanna can visit me now. Would it be alright if she came over for a weekend?” His voice was filled with so much hope that Pavel found it impossible to deny him. The smile he got in return made him all the happier, Leonard was one of the few people that Pavel could make happy other than his babies.

The PADD pinged again and the CMO groaned. Picking it up again he accepted the call.

“What now, Christine?”

“Heard through the grape vine that you were getting contacted. Everything alright over there?” Christine asked. Her statements were vague meaning that there was someone in medbay that wasn’t on their side.

“Fine here, just had to give a reminder on regulations.” Translation: Uhura got verbally slapped across the face.

“Ah, alright. Best wishes, I’ll talk to you when you get back.”

“You are quite popular today, should I be jealous?” the young parent joked.

“Only if you plan on ruining all my hard work,” the older man sniffed.

“Oh, and vhat vork is zat?”

“Oh, just working on gaining support for you on the Enterprise. All of medical and about half of engineering wish you and the twins well by the way.”

Pavel blinked several times to rid himself of the tears that had gathered in his eyes. So there were still people, other than Leonard, who believed him.

Vitaliy was suddenly standing next to Leonard and staring at him. Then he raised his arms and said, “Up.”

With a grin Leonard complied. Lyusya toddled over to Pavel and demanded for the same thing.

Such a peaceful day.

Then the PADD went off again nearly causing Leonard to curse and Pavel to laugh.


	18. Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

“What do you say to a picnic in the park?” Leonard asked the day after his PADD kept going off. He swore it was like everyone and their mother had been trying to talk to him.

“Zere is a park near here?” Pavel asked as he bounced gently while holding two fussing babies.

Vitaliy had taken a spill while trying to climb onto the couch, his momentum causing him to hit his head on the floor. There was no damage, except a rather good sized bump on the back of his dark brown hair covered head. Still, the little boy had been quiet when it happened and when Leonard had checked him out. Then suddenly he sniffled and started making quiet hiccup noises as his breath hitched and tears fell from his eyes. At that the same time, Lyusya started to do the exact same thing. Pavel had instantly appeared in the room scooping them up into his arms, bouncing, rocking, making shushing noises, and whispering comforting words to them. Leonard, knowing this was the first time either of the twins had shed tears, felt a little guilty about taking a picture. To rationalize it he thought of how infrequent this would happen due to their Vulcan genetics. Then again, the twins had picked up emoting more due to all the time they spent with Pavel and Leonard so maybe there was hope for them having emotional ranges larger than a teaspoon after all.

“Yeah, about ten minutes that way,” the doctor pointed down the road toward the town, “It’s nice and family friendly, lots of kids running around all the time. I used to study there since almost no one at Starfleet bothered to go that far out for entertainment.”

Pavel looked at his kids who had calmed significantly, but one could still be heard their hitched breathing every now and then. They were dressed in matching blue shorts and green and white striped T-shirts that Pavel had put them in that morning.

“Let me clean zem up first. You can pack ze picnic.” With that the younger man went out of the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom.

Chuckling, Leonard made his way to the kitchen. He started with the baby food, the twins refused to have just formula anymore so they compromised and took Dr. Edwards’ advice in just giving them what they wanted. A part of Vulcan genetics was apparently knowing exactly what their body needed, that and Pavel could sometimes tell through the bond. Once the dry cereal, carrot bits, and other things the kids liked were put together, Leonard started in on his and Pavel’s food. Sandwiches; turkey and cheese with a little mustard on white bread for the Russian and a nice BLT for the southern man using some of the left over bacon from that morning. He put some finger food vegetables in a container for them to munch on then proceeded to make a peanut butter based dip and something similar to that ranch dressing stuff sold in stores, but his homemade version tasted at least ten times better.

“Ready to go?”

Turning around Leonard saw Pavel had indeed finished washing the twins faces, gotten their shoes on and put on his own. The breeze drifting through the windows carried the scent of sun screen towards him.

“Just need to put all this in a basket and gab some water bottles and juice boxes and then we’re good.” He did just that and they were off after he threw on some shoes. Leonard held the basket and Lyusya’s hand as she was determined to walk and Pavel carried Vitaliy and a bag with toys and baby things.

The street was quiet except for the occasional greeting sent to them from a porch. One of the elderly women, Mrs. Charles, called out to them, saying it was so nice to see such a beautiful young family going out for a fun day. Pavel had smiled and wished her a good day while Leonard sighed at her. She was the only one on the entire street that refused to believe the two of them weren’t married and had adopted or had a surrogate mother. Whatever let her sleep at night; they had stopped trying to tell her otherwise.

Making it to the park Leonard realized he had forgotten a blanket, but Pavel just laughed at him before pulling a blanket out of the baby bag. With a smile Leonard had Lyusya watch the basket while he laid out the blanket before moving all of them onto it.

Out came the food and drinks.

Pavel looked around the park with interest. The grass was a nice lush green and there were plenty of trees dotting the border so all the children running around knew where the park ended and the street started. Like the CMO had said there were plenty of families around doing the same as they were, and kids laughing and playing. The area was spacious and wide open allowing for constant supervision to be easy and uninterrupted. It was nice here, and Pavel would definitely be bringing the twins here more often. There were even some families that lived on their street here!

“So you happy we came out here?” Leonard asked as he watched Vitaliy like a hawk as the boy toddled around on the blanket.

“Yes, it is nice here. I vill make sure to bring ze children more often.” Pavel smiled as he saw Lyusya tug her brother back to the blanket when he got a little over a foot away from it.

“Sounds nice. You think you can do that and work at the same time?” Leonard inquired.

The young parent had recently, as in two days ago, found a job as a part time employee for a company that worked with computers and other technology. This same company also did work for Starfleet, but Pavel had made it a part of his contract that he was not to be sent there due to the restraining order placed on him. Of course that meant that he had to explain why there was a restraining order against him. Thankfully the employer understood the situation and allowed the condition. He even said that if the young man was lucky, the Commander would forget about the restraining order and not renew it before it expired.

“I believe I can. I received my schedule yesterday. I start next veek, vorking from seven in ze morning to one in ze afternoon. I should be fine,” Pavel said.

“You never know. This job could drain you more than you think it will. It’s a good thing I’ll be around long enough to help you adjust, but after that you’ll need either a babysitter or a nanny,” the brunette reasoned. He wouldn’t be around forever to help take care of the twins.

“Maybe I could ask ze Jacksons if zey could watch Lyusya and Vitaliy while I vork,” the blonde contemplated aloud.

The Jacksons lived in the other half of the apartment building that Leonard and Pavel lived in. They had a five year old girl and a two year old boy. The whole family was relatively nice.

“I’d suggest having the kids meet them. We want them to be comfortable with whoever watches them.” They didn’t want them to react like they had with Pavel’s ex-husband.

“True, I vill have to set something up vile you are still here.” For a second the young blonde seemed so sad that the older man was leaving soon.

“Hey, you can always call me if you need me. I’ll make time for you.” He smiled and placed a hand on Pavel’s shoulder. “We still get to see Joanna too. I’m not leaving until Wednesday.”

They smiled at each other. Might as well spend the time they had left together enjoying each other’s company and spending time with both of their children.


	19. Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of the Star Trek characters.
> 
> Chekov’s accent: W=v v=w th=z captian=keptin

* * *

Pavel watched from his spot on the couch as his twins toddled around the living room carpet in their matching green T-shirts and blue jean overalls. The two had taken an interest in Pavel’s laser pointer a few weeks ago and still hadn’t tired of the device. One of them would point the red dot at something and the other would try to say what it was, if neither knew then they would both look to their mother for the answer. Now, this may seem strange and boring to some, but in reality Vitaliy and Lyusya were learning more words and objects. They loved learning, which was why Pavel could never get them to listen to a different story if they couldn’t read the current one on their own. After a quick visit to Dr. Edwards it was discovered that both of his children were geniuses by human standards. Ever since then Pavel had a proud smile firmly planted on his face and encouraged his prince and princess to learn as much as they wanted, which was a lot.

Today was Friday, the day that Leonard’s daughter would come over and stay for the weekend. The doctor had spent the entire morning and previous night running around making sure that everything was absolutely perfect for her arrival. Now the man was off at the shuttle port picking her up.

The father and daughter pair should be arriving any second now. Then the five of them would have a relaxing day at the apartment with movies and a homemade dinner courtesy of Leonard. While Pavel could cook, the two adults had figured that it would be better if Joanna had something she was familiar with and not the mainly Russian cuisine that the younger man could make.

A car door closed and voices started getting closer to the front door. Smiling at the sound of Leonard’s laugh, Pavel stood up, picking up the twins, and waited for the two at the front door.

The door opened and Leonard let a young girl that, in the young parent’s opinion, looked like a lighter colored, younger, female version of the CMO.

“Joanna, this is Pavel and his kids, Lyusya and Vitaliy. Pavel, this is my little girl Joanna,” Leonard introduced.

“Hello, Joanna. It is a pleasure to meet you.” The Russian smiled at the young girl in greeting. He would have shaken her hand, but his were currently occupied by two curious little quarter Vulcans.

“Hi,” she replied.

“I’ll show you where you can sleep. We’re having your favorite dinner tonight so you rest up if you need to.” With that Leonard pulled his daughter away.

As they left up the stairs, Lyusya pointed the laser pointer at Joanna’s back. Vitaliy said her name slowly right before they turned to look up at their mother.

“Zat vas Joanna. She is Leonard’s daughter,” he informed them. Happy the two went on with their game; it was Vitaliy’s turn to point.

* * *

Now, he may be oblivious a lot of the time when it came to people, but Pavel wasn’t stupid. He could tell that Joanna was uncomfortable around him and the twins. She had probably wanted to be alone with her father. Then again, there was no telling how much she had been told of his situation.

Currently Pavel was returning from picking up the twins at the Jacksons’ unit after getting off training for work. He loved that his children were comfortable with the small family, though he was a little annoyed that they forced the twins to play games that were below their intelligence levels even after he had told them that the twins were geniuses. Other than that he was happy; with the Jackson’s and work. He loved that he was fixing things and helping people in a way that made him feel useful and appreciated. There were a shocking amount of beings that had no clue about electronics or any type of engineering that could help them with their problems. Well, to him at least. Problems that were mindlessly simplistic for Pavel were apparently difficult to others.

The young blonde walked with a spring in his step as he entered the apartment and went up to his room. Joanna and Leonard were in the living room playing a board game. The doctor gave a greeting which Pavel returned in kind. Changing into some jean shorts and a blue tank top, Pavel quickly returned downstairs to the kitchen with the twins and packed a small lunch for the three of them which he put in the baby bag. Happily, the young man slung the bag over his shoulder and picked up the twins.

“Going to ze park,” he called as he exited the apartment.

He was looking forward to teaching his prince and princess some new games that didn’t involve the laser pointer.

* * *

For the past few weeks the entire crew of the Enterprise had been walking on egg shells. The captain was almost always in a sore mood, snapping at anyone that went against his orders. The first officer was just as bad! If someone did just one thing wrong, even if it was superficial and didn’t affect missions or the task the person was working on, the Vulcan would chastise them to the point that the victim would cry. The communications officer was constantly snapping at anyone she could get away with doing it to. To make matters worse, the CMO was still on his leave and wouldn’t be back for a few more Earth standard days. So there was no one to put the others in their places or fix physical injuries the way he did, even if the entirety of the medbay was filled with extremely competent medical staff.

Christine avidly wished for the doctor’s return, but knew that he would get in trouble if he came back just to tell everyone that they were being idiots.

Currently the Starfleet flagship was heading toward Earth after a mission that had a shocking lack of injuries; or deaths. So it was with great surprise that the crew learned they were heading back to Earth earlier than expected.

Christine hoped this had nothing to do with the computer problem that Spock had discovered the day before. She knew for a fact the Pavel was rooming with Dr. McCoy who had an apartment close to Starfleet headquarters. It wouldn’t be good for the young parent if someone from the Enterprise saw him, especially since Leonard said that he seemed to be getting back on his feet.


End file.
